


The Ultimate Demon Tag

by yyuu



Series: The Ultimate Games [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Friendship Is The Best Ship, Game of Tag, Gen, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Hide and Seek, Humor, POV Multiple, Swearing, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Unlikely Friendships, Volleyball Dorks & Nerds, lots of running, no beta we die, no one dies I swear, some ships if you squint REALLY hard, updates every sunday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26835118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yyuu/pseuds/yyuu
Summary: The name 'Ultimate Training Camp' itself was enough to tell that this particular camp wouldn't end like any other. For sure it was like a bored child with a God complex naming the entirety of their existence and of course things wouldn't go remotely well. The moment Coach Ukai shouts were heard from the stage to announce the last finishing event to end the night, the trust and bonds they had created in the past week shattered into pieces.Apparently every living Volleyball players loved to make things extra. It was time to put an end on the first ever special joint camp once and for all!Or,Twelve High School Volleyball teams compete with each other for a grand prize of ¥100,000. A 12 Hours Ultimate Demon-Tag shall commence on the training camp grounds immediately!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Ennoshita Chikara, Daishou Suguru & Kuroo Tetsurou, Futakuchi Kenji & Terushima Yuuji, Hanamaki Takahiro & Iwaizumi Hajime & Matsukawa Issei & Oikawa Tooru, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma, Hirugami Sachirou & Hoshiumi Kourai, Kita Shinsuke & Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu & Yamaguchi Tadashi, Oikawa Tooru & Iizuna Tsukasa, Oikawa Tooru & Ushijima Wakatoshi, Suna Rintarou & Kunimi Akira, Tendou Satori & Tsukishima Kei
Series: The Ultimate Games [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022920
Comments: 26
Kudos: 62
Collections: Haikyuu





	1. Welcome To His Personal Hell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to my first proper fanfic that-isn't-a-chatfic after god knows how many years, inspired by chapter 137 of Hajimete no Aku by Shun Fujiki. It is one of my favorite childhood manga and I wanted to write something about my favorite manga arc! English is not my mother tongue but I'll try my best to make it at least a tad bit decent. I started to write this because I was so sick of drawing and doing online internship at the moment, but I don't think writing this now is a good idea anyway since I'll have to study for college entrance exams in less than year. But HEY-
> 
> We'll have chronological stories about their situation in the game with the respective POVs in this story, so we won't be focusing on only one character. Everyone and their mothers know that I like every HQ characters anyway so you know what to expect! But I still have to limit the amount of schools to participate, so here's the list:
> 
> Total Students: 240  
> 1\. Karasuno  
> 2\. Aobajohsai  
> 3\. Date Tech  
> 4\. Shiratorizawa  
> 5\. Johzenji  
> 6\. Inarizaki  
> 7\. Kamomedai  
> 8\. Nohebi  
> 9\. Nekoma  
> 10\. Fukuroudani  
> 11\. Mujinazaka  
> 12\. Itachiyama
> 
> I know Mujinazaka and Itachiyama are considered as minor teams and not a lot of people took interest of them but I hope this fic will pull you in! I was planning to use the Shiratorizawa Academy for the location but then I have to make some kind of map for the school so I couldn't bother. I decided to use the actual Ajinomoto Training Center buildings instead! I had to translate the entire existing map though;; Anything for making it easier! I'll put the map in every beginning and ending of the chapter.
> 
> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> Enjoy!

After the parting speech from the coaches, the first ever joint training camp with 12 promising high schools has come to an end.

It had been a crazy week if Tsukishima had to say. The fact that they had this whole camp in the first place itself was ridiculous. It all started with a single extremely obnoxious person who was friends with everyone, wanting to have a place where they can just meet and play Volleyball against _and_ with each other, switch teams, share strategies, teach each other and of course, have fun. A simple wish, really. Kind of moronic, because what’s the point in sharing tactics with someone who’s not in your team? But then again, team strategies change all the time so his argument was sort of invalid. Well, who cares, right? It’s just Hinata acting like a child, _again_. He thought none of it, figuring that the shrimp would get bored of his new idea in less than a week like how he usually was.

But man, he’s dead wrong.

Words travelled so fast _—too_ fast, now everyone thought that they _actually_ were going to get that kind of service, a training camp where they can just play with whoever they want and whenever they want, even though it was just from someone’s pure imagination and selfish dreams. Would you believe that a good chunk of the volleyball community actually went along with this? Petitions were made, official proposals were written, people were called, donations were collected. All because Hinata kept yelling about his absurd idea to everyone he fucking meets (and he knows _a lot_ of people), now they thought this Ultimate Training Camp (courtesy to some random guy who popularized the name as the rumors go) was actually going to happen. In a span of what, two months?

Not to mention Coach Hibarida Fuki, the coach who apparently was training Kageyama at his Youth Camp back then—who’s also one of the most influential people in the community, was 100% on board with the idea of putting random schools in a single camp without scouting the talented players one by one like usual. In this new training camp, anyone only needed to register their school teams, and the ones responsible will use raffles to decide which schools were going to attend, no matter where they were, or how strong they were. Every training camp will have 12 or so teams (only 15-20 people per teams are allowed to enter), one place in every prefecture to match up with the amount of schools in Japan. In Ultimate Training Camp, they’ll split the team members apart and group them to play with other teams to build up communication skills because in National teams, people will be grouped with a lot of people with different backgrounds, personalities, even nationalities, so why not practice now? A huge chance to strengthen connections and be better players in a friendly manner with no strings attached.

Funny that no one knew that it was originally Hinata’s idea, they just sort of heard someone talking and it went from there. Hinata’s name was lost in the rumor, though the shrimp didn’t seem to care about it at all (Tsukishima was sure he’s not even aware of the monster plan he’d created. Same old, same old) and he’s happy that something similar to his dreams was going to be real. The blond huffed in annoyance and disbelief. Surely it’s still just a rumor? A very popular rumor. Almost gonna to be the truth. Shit.

Tsukishima didn’t pay much attention to this whole thing since the beginning. More like he couldn’t care less with the outcome of this pseudo-camp no matter how much Yamaguchi had tried to hold a conversation about it. The higher ups in the volleyball community probably said so to humor the younger players but they would NOT make the actual camp and wait till they all forget about it, also known as a passing trend. Because even _he_ knew it’d be too much of a bother. Sure, maybe using Tsukishima as the standard didn’t help much. But still.

So when the letter said that Karasuno was going to be one of the first teams to ever be part of the camp, he literally choked on air.

“This can’t be happening,” had been the only thing that he could say to himself and to the rest of members. They were delighted of course, Hinata might not have trademarked the idea (not like his idea is fully original in the first place!) but the fact that they got to win the first ever raffle was good enough for them. Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai were especially euphoric, they were one of the people who tried to actualize the idea after all, followed by Daichi who Tsukishima remembered had made multiple calls with their rival schools’ captains to spread the word—even though he wasn’t really sure what exactly it was about. But he did hear the word “camp” though, so his guesses were probably not too far off from the truth.

The actual camp was a living nightmare. The first day when Karasuno arrived in Ajinomoto National Training Center in Tokyo, they were greeted by ¾ of their rivals and were technically heckled and nudged to death (specifically by a certain rooster hair bastard and a heavily drugged owl). Tsukishima wished he’d asked for a list of schools that got in the same training camp as they were so he can at least come up with plans to avoid running into people he disliked. Contrary to popular belief, Tsukishima Kei did not like drama, despite Hinata kept telling him that he was ‘such a drama queen'. He begged to differ. They all knew that the King is the most dramatic person in the team, which they all silently agreed. He only liked dramas if it wasn’t revolving around him. Whatever happened on the court, stayed on the court, almost everyone knew that.

 _Almost_ was the keyword, because Tendou wouldn’t leave him alone. He kept calling him “Mister Vanilla” and throwing any other first grade-level insults at him. Tsukishima really want to snap those skinny fingers of his so he can never be able to block or mock him ever again.

Okay, he might’ve gone too far with that but, still. Middle blockers are insufferable—even when he’s one.

At least the middle blocker from Inarizaki was nice. Oh, ‘nice’ might be an overstatement, actually. He’s still an asshole, but managed to climb up to Tsukishima’s board of “people he tolerated” in a span of two days. Suna Rintarou was currently sitting on the ‘okay’ category and that’s it. He thought he might be in the same boat as Suna, that they didn’t want to be here _at all._ Other than that, Tsukishima had to admit that having Suna in his team was extremely helpful because he has strong game sense and his weird fucking upper torso that can bend sharply to left and right had completely blocked Ushijima’s spikes a few times (although Suna’s hands were absolutely destroyed by it, and was subbed out in the middle of the match with Johzenji’s Bobata Kazuma but hey, at least they scored).

The narrow-eyed fox was way different outside the court. While his lazy and deadpan aura was still present, he’s actually a cool guy with great music tastes, Tsukishima had discovered. They somehow became close because of it. Yamaguchi would say they were friends already, but like hell they were. Only a few people were allowed to step into Tsukishima Kei’s friendship territory. You still have a long way to go but thanks for the song recommendations by the way.

Playing with different teams everyday was mentally draining enough. He most definitely didn’t sign up to be in the midst of feral arguments by people he barely knew on the court. The blond middle blocker thought the spectacle that Oikawa and Iwaizumi from Seijoh had presented on the very first day— Oikawa wanted to be extra vain for his introduction as always so he’ll leave a good impression to the rest of the camp members, which caused Iwaizumi to put him on a tight chokehold as if he didn’t have a care in the world as everyone watched—was going to be the biggest tragedy he had to put up with but _nooooooo._

If he thought this particular pair was bad, there’s going to be an even worse pair, being Kageyama’s and Hinata’s teammate had taught him that. If you thought being on the same side of the court with Koganegawa and Inuoka was bad enough then you were wrong. How about having Miya Atsumu and Osamu on the different sides of the court? Constant yelling and bickering. Thank God Ojiro Aran existed, if he wasn’t there Tsukishima wasn’t sure if his eardrums could take it. Want a more disastrous pair? Johzenji’s Terushima with Nekoma’s Taketora. Or Nishinoya or Tanaka and Hoshiumi from Kamomedai, addition to the last pair. Not enough bullshit yet? Try Futakuchi from Date Tech and Daishou from Nohebi pair, even though Tsukishima did enjoy riling up the opposing side a bit. Just a little bit.

If this camp was supposed to make their communication skills improve, then they fucking suck at it.

He wished one of the team raffles actually put him in the same team as Yamaguchi so it’ll be one less person to worry about. But of course the universe wanted him to suffer. Of fucking course.

Yamaguchi seemed to be having fun though. The freckled teen had become close to Inarizaki’s Riseki Heisuke, who’s also a pinch server like him, even though he was sure they bonded because both of them were very timid and sheepish. They had made a band of anxiety-ridden players in less than a day, and Tsukishima was quite proud of him because Yamaguchi was on the center of it, giving reassuring smiles and encouragements to others who really needed it. For a second the middle blocker thought he’s seen actual shining stars from afar but nah, it was just his freckles. At least this training camp was giving such a big impact for his best friend. _Good for him, I guess._

Suga had also formed a group full of setters. The first few members were Kozume and Akaashi since he already knew them, and Usuri Michiru from Mujinazaka then were soon followed by Nohebi’s Sakishima and Shiratorizawa’s Semi Eita. Oikawa had tried to insert himself to the group because “pretty guys gotta stay together” which Suga refused by simply saying “with all due respect Oikawa-kun, before you could appreciate the existence of one Kageyama Tobio, you are not to be in this group” with his ever twinkling smile and Oikawa legitimately gagged. Tsukishima wanted to believe that was just Suga’s attempt at being nice and still playing mommy to Karasuno’s number 9, but it was still funny to watch Oikawa’s face scrunched in disgust every time someone mentioned Kageyama’s name. His little team was still expanding as Suga went to find other setters to practice together. Tsukishima didn’t hate Oikawa personally, but he can eat shit for all he cared, because that’d be hilarious.

The whole Karasuno had made a name for themselves, apparently. He could see Ennoshita from afar with a few other people too. Now that he could see him clearly, everyone who surrounded his sleepy-looking senior was second years; Yahaba from Seijoh, Shirabu from Shiratorizawa, Seguro from Nohebi, Futakuchi, and Terushima. Tsukishima had tried to figure out what this group of people had in common. Positions? No, Ennoshita was a wing spiker, both Yahaba and Shirabu were setters. Hobbies? Ennoshita liked a lot of things, actually. So that probably made the most sense but then again, he didn’t want to think what people like Terushima or Futakuchi liked to do in their spare time. Then he finally realized that Ennoshita was already a known future captain and the rest of them are very notable players in their respective teams. It’s safe to assume that they bonded over future captaincy, he guessed. But it’s still just a wild theory.

Tsukishima turned to look to the other side of the gym and spotted his own captain talking to other team leaders. He would’ve thought none of it since Daichi had been hanging out with them from day 1 anyway, but the faces Bokuto and Kuroo had made and how nervous Kamomedai’s Aikichi Suwa and Iizuna Tsukasa from Itachiyama looked in the middle of their conversation, involuntary made him quite suspicious of what they’ve been up to. The blond didn’t seem to care ( _again_ ), if Daichi and Kita Shinsuke were present, how bad could it be? If they could handle a group filled with a bunch of animals (read: Karasuno and Inarizaki), they could take on the whole world.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Kageyama were in a similar situation as both him and Yamaguchi. The two idiots haven’t played in the same team for the whole week, thus intensifying their strange rivalry. It was actually fun watching them shouting insults back and forth from across the court. They’re like the Miya Twins but PG-13, but Tsukishima knew them personally, which made it a hundred times funnier. Even so, Hinata had a problem adjusting to his ever-changing teams and Kageyama had a hard time talking to new people. Their captain said it’s good to have this kind of practice so they can all stop relying on each other completely and start trying to compliment existing abilities.

Wait, then what was the real problem? Tsukishima wouldn’t know. He didn’t care enough to actively find out, he had his own stuff to do, you know.

After losing against Kamomedai at the nationals, he had been quietly observing their school’s middle blockers. Hirugami Sachirou was especially good at blocking Bokuto and Sakusa from Itachiyama’s spikes, and his blocks almost never left the chance for anyone to receive it. He should’ve been more careful with his staring, because Hirugami caught him watching multiple times and teased him for it. Tsukishima, as always, kept his deadpan face and claimed he didn’t. The guy just laughed it off and _deadass_ just offered to practice blocking together in the 4th Gym. He immediately agreed to it before his pride slit his throat so he couldn’t speak. What he _didn’t_ expect was Kuroo, Bokuto, and Tendou to be there.

If only he’d seen this coming. If only he was a pace quicker when he ran away from the gym, but alas, he was caught by Matsukawa and Kindaichi from Seijoh who were also going to practice there. Shit.

_For the sake of improving,_ he muttered to himself every time Tendou opened his mouth to speak.

How happy he was now that the ridiculous excuse of a training camp had ended.

The coaches had given their individual speeches for the ending ceremony and with that, the camp was truly over. It was held at the Nishigaoka fields for some reason. Couldn’t they just hold it in the third floor, where the volleyball courts were? It’s so damn _cold_ out here.

The others had formed a couple circles with their own group of friends to hang out one last time for tonight. Everyone were happily singing and dancing for God knows why, some even cried their eyes out over the fact that tomorrow they had to part ways. Tsukishima thought it was stupid. This was definitely not the last time they’re going to see each other, at least if they’re still playing volleyball and don’t forget that cellphones exist too. Everyone could meet up anytime and they only needed to match their schedules. Easy. He couldn’t see why they would waste their tears like that. Man, even Yamaguchi was sobbing. Oh wow.

…Or maybe he’s just being a heartless bastard once again. Well, couldn’t help it, it’s who he was.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden hand slapping his back.

“Good work for the week, Tsukki!” the Nekoma captain’s laughed at him. Tsukishima turned his back to find Kuroo with Bokuto skipping right next to the black haired teen, smiling widely. “We had so much fun playing with you and your team!”

Tsukishima could only snort at that. Had fun? Yeah, right. Like hell he could have fun after all the bullshit he’d been through. Imagine if some bullies were to tell Tsukishima to jump off the roof, he’d _do it._ Not because he felt intimidated (bullies can go fuck themselves), he just wanted to get away from this nightmarish gate of hell and its residents as soon as possible. He was tired. _Spiritually_ and _emotionally_ exhausted. And oh, sleeping sounded like a luxury right now.

“Maybe you did, but not me. Nope. Every second I spent with you guys is slowly shortening my lifespan. Off you go now.” He lazily made shooing motions. Both captains puffed their cheeks in attempt to look pissed but it didn’t last long as they immediately burst into laughter at the first year’s comeback.

“This might be the last time we’re gonna see each other, y’know! Aren’t you gonna miss us?” Kuroo tapped both of Tsukishima’s shoulders in dismay. “Because we _sure_ as hell are gonna miss you!”

“What he said! You’re fun! Prickly, but so much fun!” the Fukuroudani captain lifted both of his hands up in the air, waving them at him. Tsukishima scoffed, he figured everyone would miss Bokuto instead. He had a big presence and had always been the loudest in the room. Who’d miss an edgy salt shaker? Not even Tsukishima himself. It still confused the hell out of him that these two wanted to practice with him at all. It almost broke his heart (almost! Can’t get on his touchy-feely side that easily) when Bokuto’s bright smile suddenly shifted into a frown. “It was fun playing with everyone. It was fun, but...”

“I get you, bro.” Kuroo nodded in agreement. ”When I think that this was the last training camp I’ll have you guys, it gets kind of gloomy.”

He thought for a second. _They’re right._

Honestly, after a full year of watching the two captains’ antics and being the receiving end of their constant teasing, he tend to forget that these two were both in their third year of high school, and were technically legal _adults._ Could they even function and survive in real life—again, Tsukishima would never know. Still, he’s now made aware that this year’s going to be their last training camp together, and God knows what universities they were going. Even if these two were still going to continue playing volleyball in the future, it’d be hard to meet up since they’re too far from each other.

Nonetheless, “I don’t think there’s a universe that allowed me to _not_ meet you guys out there, so I’m pretty sure we’re still going to cross paths. _Even_ if I actively try my best to avoid each and every one of you.” He said the last sentence with a mocking grin.

Kuroo guffawed, hands clutching his stomach from laughing. The Fukuroudani captain followed suit, slapping his knees and yelled out a “good one!”

Yeah, he hated them so, _so much_ that he swore if he found the chance to _yeet_ them out of his life, he’d take it in a heartbeat. No questions asked.

Tsukishima’s smirk turned into a genuine smile. For his standards, anyway.

_But maybe I’ll have to wait and enjoy the moment for a while._

****

**_“Sad that the camp is over?”_ **

_Aaaaaaaaand_ the floaty moment of actually having feelings abruptly stopped.

A loud and boisterous voice rang out through the speaker. Everyone froze midway of their dancing but recovered quickly when they realized who the voice belonged to—they looked around to find the one who was talking. Tsukishima recognized that voice in an instant. He slowly looked away from his two companions to identify the figure standing on top of the makeshift stage. "Coach Ukai?"

**_“I called it a yes! Then, I have great news for you! Allow me to announce.... the bonus event of the camp!”_ **

****

Why’s he even on the stage. Why’s he holding a 25w megaphone when there’s a perfectly usable microphone right next to him. Why’s he wearing a convenience store-brand demon horns head band. Did he just spot Takeda-sensei too? _What the hell is happening up there._

**_“THE FIRST EVER, 12 HOUR GAME OF ULTIMATE DEMON-TAG!!”_ **

****

_What._

**_“It’s a shame to let our first ever Ultimate Training Camp end like this! How about a big event to finish it off?”_ **

****

“A DEMON TAG?!” He could faintly make out Hinata and Lev’s voices mixed with the mob. Everyone broke out into loud whispers, mostly from confusion and excitement upon hearing about the event that wasn’t even written on the camp schedule.

Really? A surprise event and it’s a game of tag? _12 fucking hours?_ Tsukishima could already smell the bullshit up in the air. Surely, they were joking? It seemed like it’s not just him who felt the same way (of course, if you’re a rational human being), a few other players who’s already tired with today’s activities were questioning the whole stunt to the others around them.

“Till morning?! I’ve never even stayed up past 10!” Goshiki shrieked. Tsukishima wasn’t sure if the Shiratorizawa’s outside hitter was panicked or excited. Or both. Most likely both.

After scanning through the crowd once again, the amount of players who were baffled exceeded those who were thrilled to enter the game. It made sense why they’d think that, 12 hours felt unreasonable, even for Tsukishima who’s a well-known night owl.

Coach Ukai seemed to predict that the rest of the players would react this way and immediately cleared his throat, before the middle blocker could take his leave to the dormitories.

**_“Oh, did I mention?”_** He continued, eyeing the crowd below him. **“ _That there’s a 100,000 Yen prize to be won?”_**

There was a beat of silence. The crowd let out a collective gasp, followed by a loud cheering after the announcement.

But Tsukishima remained silent.

“What the _fuck?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do ask for someone(s)' appearance or give me prompts! I've outlined half of the fic already but it'll be fun to prolong it if this fic actually gets attention.
> 
> I won't say anything about the game mechanisms yet (that's for the next chapter) but all I can say is; Who do you think would win? Every characters in those 12 schools have the same chance and could be potential winners of this game of tag! Any idea who it's going to be?
> 
> Hmu in [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) if you wanna talk to me about this fic! Or my [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/) if you're interested to see my art 👉👈
> 
> See ya!


	2. Peace was Never The Option

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the eyes of a manager.
> 
> [prologue II]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)

If you asked Nametsu Mai if she liked working as a manager, she'd need a moment to consider.

While she enjoyed learning more about volleyball and meeting other school managers, having to look after an entire team full of hormonal teenagers was absolutely one of the most laborious and _tiresome_ things she’s ever done in her life (yes, even when she’s barely eighteen). The Date Tech manager was not lazy per se, she just preferred if everything actually went the way she wanted to avoid any additional headaches. The girl liked to keep her work extra tidy, and she wanted it to stay like that. For forever, if she dared to dream—but that’d still be asking too much.

When the news about the training camp had reached the Date Tech premises, Nametsu let out the loudest groan ever.

 _More work,_ she murmured to herself. This new training camp was odd at its own—no one knew where it came from and who had started the rumor. Their coach was very eager for some reason, he convinced everyone to enter the raffle and of course they took the bait instantly. They’re excited, even. Why wouldn’t they? All they knew about the camp was literally; "Gonna be super duper totally awesome!" as Koganegawa, the first year setter had declared loudly in the school gym and they all cheered to that. Nametsu doubted it’d be that fun for _her._

This preparation was tiring enough. Sure, after running errands to ensure that the camp went well, she became a lot closer to the other managers. Nametsu never had any training camps with the current listed teams, excluding Johzenji High School since their captain and Futakuchi were “the best of best friends” and always had joint camps once a month. Nametsu knew their manager personally, Misaki Hana, and it seemed like she had a new first year manager under her wing—she was told that her name was Kuribayashi Runa.

Nametsu thought that it’d be good to make an attempt to befriend other managers if they’re supposed to be together for an entire week. She’s by no means perfect, or able to do everything alone. Shimizu from Karasuno was especially nice, as she somehow managed to notice whenever Nametsu needed assistance every single time. In contrast of her junior Yachi Hitoka who always looked like she’s about to pass out after any minor inconveniences. Kuribayashi, or Runa-chan (Misaki insisted), was the same way.

Karasuno was the busiest group in the entire camp as they had been visited by their families the most—or more specifically _attacked_ by Tsukishima Akiteru and Tanaka Saeko in the last day of camp. Akiteru admitted he had a college road trip to Tokyo with his friends but he wanted to go home with his little brother after he’s done with practice. Saeko on the other hand had been with them from the beginning because she said she “has nothing to do” as her college was closed for renovation. Kageyama’s older sister who’d been working as a hair stylist at the capital dropped by time to time to check on him as well. The committee didn’t mind their presence and included them in some activities (wait, they allowed that?).

Fukuroudani’s Suzumeda and Shirofuku were fun to be around, they’ve gleefully told her that the two of them had already known almost every current team members because they’ve been having multiple training camps (that’s to be expected, Fukuroudani was a powerhouse school after all), so if Nametsu wanted to be introduced to a _certain someone,_ she could just ask. The Date Tech manager huffed in embarrassment at the implication. They were great people, but both Suzumeda and Shirofuku could be very overbearing at times. She appreciated the help, though.

Nohebi didn’t have a manager, but someone called Yamaka Mika liked to visit the team a few times. Nametsu soon found out that the girl was Nohebi’s captain’s girlfriend. Every time she stopped by, she always brought honey lemons or other sweets to share. Shirofuku had invited Yamaka to bake some cookies for the whole team and she happily followed. Nametsu was glad of Yamaka Mika’s visits, her cookies were _astronomical._ She could eat them every day if she could. Similar thing happened with the manager-less Nekoma that had their ace’s little sister who introduced herself as Akane to cheer on them in matches, accompanied by the college student called Ailsa who was the older sister of the tallest and lanky guy in that school.

The other teams who were bigger and _more famous_ were divided into two; they either had an adult as their manager or let the bench warmers do their technical manager work. Mujinazaka, Shiratorizawa and Seijoh for example, they have a _lot_ of members and the ones who weren’t starters or potential substitutes were immediately casted away, or sorted to be ball boys, any other supporting group, really. It was sad, in a way, Nametsu wouldn’t understand the feeling standing on the court—but she did understand that everyone here wanted to play, and worked hard to be able to represent their school.

Nametsu had decided to be a manager so she’s able to help them make it come true.

_But she didn’t sign up for this “extra event” thing though!!”_

When she said she’s determined to help, she didn’t mean like it _that._ Here she was, on top of the stage with both the coaches and managers, being the Master of Ceremony for this absurd game of tag.

She needed a vacation. With the managers, maybe. Yeah, they should totally do that.

****

**_“Starting now, we’re hosting a game of “Demon Tag” within the training camp grounds.”_** She announced. **_“Now then, allow me to explain the rules,”_**

Nametsu put her cue cards down for a moment to get a certain item from her pocket for everyone to see.

A simple bracelet with the kanji “Human” neatly carved on them.

Beside the sole existence of this camp, what surprised her even more was the unexpected reunion with the recently retired Date Tech 3rd years, Moniwa Kaname and Kamasaki Yasushi. They didn’t know anything about the training camp. The previous captain told her that they had an internship in Tokyo (while Sasaya’s internship was in Kyushu), and one of the things they needed to do was to make the bracelets. The two were left speechless when they saw Nametsu. They didn’t expect that their project was going to be used for the game in the Training Center (but like hell they could predict that anyway). As the main creators of the bracelets, Moniwa and Kamasaki had been invited as special guests for the night. At least now she had a few more company to get through the night.

**_“For all players, please wear this bracelet on your wrist. It’s synched with the gloves that people who are “demons” will be wearing. So, when you’re tagged, the bracelet will activate, and it’ll come off. The demons have to touch a part of your body in order to disqualify the participants so even though you are—for example—wearing long sleeves, the bracelets will still come off when they touch any part of your covered hand. But if they only touched your clothes and nothing beneath it, you’re still very much safe.”_** She breathed out the last sentence, **_“Anyone who loses their bracelet is out!”_**

A lot of players were in awe, and the rest gave impressed whistles. Shimizu, Shirofuku, and Misaki were carrying boxes full of the said bracelets, handing them one by one with the help of a few coaches. Nametsu had no idea _how_ they could make these things but they did anyway. The welding department of Date Tech was quite scary, she recently discovered.

Moniwa could only smile to that.

****

**_“The area for the game is the entire National Training Center area, except the Athletics track field since they’re two streets away.”_** Nametsu continued _. **“If you leave the camp premises, you will be disqualified. The committee purposely didn’t mark the boundaries so you ought to be careful. The “demons” will be 10 people chosen by us, initially. But, as time passes, that number will increase.”**_

After hearing the word “demons,” everyone started to look at the people around them in suspicion. Nametsu let out a grin before she could stop herself, watching the multiple shocked faces below her. Ahhh, she didn’t want to admit that she’s starting to get a little excited too. How couldn’t she? Although Nametsu still thought that using a game of tag as an event was stupid, but the mental image of _him_ willingly running around to tag people for _prize money_ made her giggle. The Date Tech manager quietly scanned the crowd and hummed to herself. Maybe this game night wasn’t as bad as she thought.

_I see that they’ve successfully got away from the mob, unnoticed!_

Nametsu tapped her microphone to shift the attention back to her again. **_“And the prize of 100,000 Yen will be shared amongst the survivor. In other words, if there are 10 survivors, each one would get 10,000 Yen. But!”_** She paused for suspense. **_“If there’s only one last person standing, that person will get the entire 100,000 Yen!”_**

“WOAHHH!!!!!!!” The players’ roars were deafening. Nametsu purposely held her announcement for a second and she’s glad that everyone gave the reaction she wanted. _It’s good to build up tension,_ Coach Ukai had told her in their briefing. It’s great that they’re so energetic, and they all deserved this more than anyone.

Every single one of them had worked their asses off for the whole week. Learning new techniques, improve their stamina, joining every existing exercise imaginable. This event would surely exhaust them to the point of passing out (12 hours! Can you believe that?), but putting that amount of money on the line really pumped their spirits up.

They probably didn’t fully realize what they signed up. Nametsu could tap onto the microphone once more to tell them right there and there but _nah._

It’s time to suffer.

****

**_“Well then, there’s only 10 seconds till the game begins!”_ **

With that, Coach Hibarida started the countdown.

**_“9!”_ **

“Let’s get ‘em! We’re goin’ to win this!” Atsumu exclaimed loudly from the crowd, punching the sky. Surprisingly, his twin brother followed suit, his signature blank expression was replaced with a tiny bit of excitement.

“100,000 Yen…” Osamu murmured, looking up. “How many chicken strips can I buy with that much money… Oh God. Oh my God.”

“Shit, I could buy a whole new album with that… and a new headphone while I’m at it.” Suna groaned. “But I haven’t slept at all since yesterday.”

“If ya think about salmon-filled onigiri, yer drowsiness will be gone in an instant. Guaranteed, 100% focus.”

“Stop thinkin’ about food, damn it!”

She snickered. One should not underestimate Miya Osamu’s appetite, Nametsu and everyone who had cooked for the camp knew that fact. Inarizaki might be one of the biggest competitors out there.

Her eyes turned to the other side of the field. Nametsu’s skin almost burnt from the intensity radiating from the eastern fields.

**_“8!”_ **

“Enemies… They’re all enemies…” Tanaka clenched his fists. He had Nishinoya and two other Karasuno members next to him, sharing the same level of determination. “We could finally give proper offerings for Kiyoko-san with that kind of money! We have to win this, guys!”

“Yeah!”

Uh. _Offerings?_ The Karasuno duo said the weirdest things. Poor Shimizu (or lucky her?).

**_“7!”_ **

Nametsu finally found her own team in the sea of people. Koganegawa looked even more focused that he was in practice. “100,000 Yen, huh…. If I had that much..!”

“What are you going to buy, Kogane?!” Sakunami asked him, also feeling enthusiastic. “I was thinking of getting new phone!”

“Volleyball sneakers! Nothing wrong with mine, I saw a super cool pair of shoes when we went sightseeing in the city. They have great colors and everything!”

“That’s cool.” Fukiage agreed.

She smiled. Seemed like they’ve made an alliance!

**_“6!”_ **

“I can finally… buy Sonoda Umi… figurines… God really does exist.”

“Wait, you know Love Live?! DUDE!”

“Hell yeah, men of culture!”

“Did Bokuto-san use the bathroom? I can’t see him anywhere.”

“Oh no.”

**_“5!”_ **

“That Harry Potter limited edition box set is mine.”

“Who the fuck still talks about Harry Potter, man.”

“Nerd! Kawanishi’s a nerd!”

“ _That Harry Potter limited edition box set is mine.”_

“I never knew you like that kind of thing.”

“I want to pair up with Wakatoshi… Where is he, by the way?”

“Coach Washijo needed him! He said he’ll be back in a bit.”

“Fuck, where’s Shirabu then?!”

**_“4!”_ **

“Sakusa! Wanna team up?”

“Do I really have to join?”

“Are you saying you’re gonna drop the chance to get 100,000 Yen just like that?”

“Twelve solid hours. _Till morning._ I’d rather sleep than wasting my energy.”

“Nonsense, it’ll be fun!”

“But he has a point. This has nothing to do with volleyball!”

“Come on midget, we’re gonna win this thing!”

“DON’T CALL ME HMPH—“

“Kourai-kun! Don’t be too l—did you just lick my hand?!”

**_“3!”_ **

“I CAN USE THE MONEY FOR MY GIRLFRIEND!”

“NO ONE CARES!”

****

**_“2!”_ **

“MEAT! I’ll be able to eat meat for MONTHS!”

“I could buy this… or that…!”

“Hey, has anyone seen Daichi?”

**_“1!”_ **

The timer had finally reached its end, it’s now 7 PM.

****

**_“It’s time! Are you ready? The 12 Hour Endurance Game of Demon Tag…”_ **

Nametsu gripped the microphone tighter.

****

**_“BEGIN!”_ **

In an instant, all hell broke loose.

* * *

**7 PM [12 HOURS REMAINING]**

**NUMBERS OF PARTICIPANTS: 240**

* * *

**_“Introducing!”_** another voice perked up from the stage. **_“I’m Suzumeda Kaori. I’ll be your commentator for the night, accompanying the host Nametsu-san right here!”_**

 ** _"Oh, thank God. Please do the screaming for me.”_** Nametsu sighed, giving up her cue cards to the other girl.

Suzumeda shook her head.

**_“No, silly! You’re the assigned MC, I’m just gonna be next to you for moral support!”_ **

**_“You? Moral support? Please.”_** Nametsu chuckled mockingly and Suzumeda huffed in return.

 ** _“How mean…”_** Her attention went back to the scene unfolding before them. The Fukuroudani manager’s voice echoed out over the noise of the crowds.

 ** _“Split up, you guys! The entire facility is_** **_more or less bigger than 2 prestigious private schools combined—you can hide in the training building, gym, indoor or outdoor swimming pools, bedrooms, toilets, anywhere! We’ve taken out every keys, so almost every rooms are open—but all lights are off, of course! Go on and explore!”_**

“WAHOOO!!!! This way, guys!” Tanaka waved his hand to signal his friends to follow him.

“Please tell me you know where you’re going…” Kinoshita said, trying and failing to catch his breath and feeling a bit embarassed of his stamina when they barely ran for a full 5 minutes.

Niya gave a confident thumb up. “Of course, silly! We checked the locker rooms in the west indoor training center and it could fit both me _and_ Hinata! So each locker could probably fit you too, Hisashi!”

Narita snorted and turned to Tanaka. “We know that Suga-san and Asahi-san are going together, but where’s Daichi-san? Or Ennoshita?”

“No idea! But if they’re smart, they should start hiding right now!”

The assembled players had started to disperse. If they dared to quote, it’s like that one scene in Ratatouille where the rats were running away from the humans, except that the ones who were after them are freaking _demons._ Not the best analogy but in their defense, they weren’t given enough time to let their brains fully function from the ruckus so take it or leave it.

****

**_“The Demons are already on their way to catch you, don’t get caught now!”_ **

“You heard her!” Yamamoto yelled. A few Nekoma members were following (albeit reluctantly, for some people) right behind him.

“Does anyone know who the Demons are?” Inuoka asked. “I’m so excited to join though, 100K is a lot! But I wish they told us about this beforehand, my stomach is gonna burst!”

“We did just eat dinner…” Kai hummed in agreement, feeling relieved that the rest of them shared the same sentiment.

“Whatever, I like surprises!” Yamamoto confessed, blunt and immediate. “We gotta find a hiding place! Kenma had been using the Athlete’s Village to sneak out of practice and it actually worked _every time.”_

Lev’s eyes widened and looked at the blond setter while still keeping up with Yamamoto’s pace.

“Athlete Village?! That’s quite a long way from the gym we practice at! Are we even allowed to enter before bed time and for food?!”

“As expected of Kenma.” Fukunaga nodded.

Yaku sighed and shook his head. “Why can’t you put that kind of determination to volleyball?”

Kenma just shrugged at their remarks. It’s not like he’s actively trying to ditch practice all the time, but being alone and isolated from certain groups of people were doing him good. More specifically for the sake of gaming by himself, totally. “Everything to get away from Kuroo.”

_“What did you say, Kenma?”_

Kenma stopped on his tracks for the sudden voice calling out for him. It seemed like the rest of the team heard it too, as they all simultaneously turned their backs to find their captain—who had excused himself to find Tsukishima and Bokuto to have a little chat but never came back. Here he was, wearing the last outfit they’d last saw him with the addition of a cheap-looking red demon horns headband resting on his hair. Kuroo’s smirk grew as he stared at their horrified faces and lifted his right hand to let them see his gloves with the kanji for “Demon” carved on it.

If you didn’t know Kuroo personally, you would’ve suspected him as the world class lunatic with that kind of devilish grin plastered on his face.

But the entirety of Nekoma knew him, and that smile still meant _danger._

“I’m not going easy on you guys!”

**”And there they go, the first Demons for tonight’s event! We have handpicked them ourselves and they are out for _blood!_ Watch your backs or you’ll be doomed to lose!”**

Kuroo leaped to them without warning and quickly striking out Teshiro and Shibayama. They didn’t even have the chance to process the whole situation when both of their bracelets fell down to the ground and the Nekoma captain laughed at their dismay.

He immediately sprinted towards Yamamoto who was the closest to him and grabbed Yamamoto by his shirt, but the Mohawk haired teen was faster to avoid him before the demon could do what he wanted.

“What the Hell, Kuroo.” Kenma hissed. _Has Kuroo been this quick?_ He had known that the Nekoma captain had great reflexes but not to that extent. The blond made an attempt to run closer to Kai.

“Kuroo-san! How could you betray your fellow brethren like that!? We only need Yaku-san with us, we don’t need another demon senpai!” Lev cried, earning a disapproving stare from Yaku himself.

Inuoka wanted to go after the recently fallen Teshiro and Shibayama but he didn’t want to be in close approximation to the **red** demon, so he froze on his spot. Kuroo only laughed louder.

“You’re so mean, captain!” Inuoka exhaled loudly. “We barely started!” Shibayama nodded to that.

“What happened to Tsukki, then? Or Bokuto-san? Did you kill them off?!” Lev interrogated.

“Nope! Me and Bokuto went out to get our stuff so Tsukki got away unscathed, which _sucked_. But I’ll definitely catch him next time!” Kuroo said in a sing-song tune. He turned to look at the two disqualified first years jeeringly. “Sorry, everyone! Every Demon will get 200 Yen in club funds for every person we tag, soooo… Well, less than minimal wage for a 12 hours job but eh, I’ll take it! Thanks for the 400 Yen by the way!”

Yaku gave him a questioning look. “Hold on, you and Bokuto? Are you telling me…”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you just let us win so we can _all_ get that 100,000 Yen?!” Yamamoto barked.

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

They all screamed.

**“The leaders of your own respective teams are out to get you! We have Kuroo Tetsurou-kun from Nekoma who got to catch the first couple of players in less than 5 minutes!”**

“That was so uncalled for!” Sarukui’s breath hitched. “I can’t believe she’d do us like that!”

Konoha groaned. “They’re gonna pay for this!”

Even Onaga and Washio were having trouble keeping up the pace—Konoha, Komi and Akaashi were a few steps further from them. He wanted to stop for a second to rest his legs (but like Suzumeda said, it’s only been the first _5_ minutes to the event).

But Bokuto Koutarou was sprinting right behind them, wearing that _scarily dumb_ expression on his face.

“HEY HEY HEY!!” the **white** demon did a long jump to cut their distance, successfully kicking them over and landed on top of both Washio and Onaga with a thud. There’s a faint sound of their bracelets popping off, and it was absolutely one of the most depressing sound Sarukui had ever heard. Bokuto wasted no time and quickly got back to his feet and turned up to the remainder of the team with wide eyes.

_They’re screwed._

“I guess the amount of laps we’ve gone through in the training camp hadn’t improved your speed, Washio-kun, Onaga-kun!” the Fukuroudani captain laughed boisterously. “We ought to fix that later!"

Akaashi furrowed his eyebrows. “You didn’t tell us anything about taking part of this, Bokuto-san.”

He really didn’t. Sarukui thought Bokuto was the kind of person who always shared every single aspect of his life—whether if it’s the _boringest_ story you could imagine, like finding a cool pebble at the nearest park for example (because Bokuto did tell them a story similar to that a few days ago). They didn’t mind this of course, but surely Bokuto would’ve at least told them something especially if it was something as big as _this._

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us about the event at all!”

“Exactly! How the fuck did you manage to keep it as a secret for a full week and were out of Akaashi’s Bokuto Radar?!” Konoha protested. The second year setter wanted to refute but Konoha shushed him before he could speak.

“It was hard! Soooo hard to keep my mouth shut!” Bokuto admitted. “But Oikawa and Kita taught me a thing or two about being discreet. Props to them! I had no idea how they did it!”

Then it dawned to them. The captains did spend some time together in the camp. Like, a lot of time. A lot. More than a few times. _Oh._

“Big thanks to whoever came up with this idea! What a way to end the training camp with a blast!”

_They’re fucking screwed._

****

**_“The decision to give the demon roles to the captains was made by Coach Washijo himself. In this camp, Shiratorizawa coach had told us the importance of being the backbone of the team. Taking responsibility of every members of the group is a grueling task, so their existence should not be taken lightly. But this also will help you learn that they won’t be on the same side of the court with you forever, and—”_ **

Nametsu’s voice was cut by a high pitched screaming from the entrance of the west indoor camp.

Nishinoya was running for his life, hands flailing up in the air as the **black** demon kept a steady pace behind him. It seemed like Daichi and Ushijima—the **purple** demon, had been hiding there the whole time, waiting for the chance to seize their prey.

A huge group of Shiratorizawa, Karasuno, Nohebi and Johzenji students who were about to find a spot in the building had completely fallen to their trap.

****

**_“…to remind the rest of the team that captains, are in fact, the ones in charge. And that you should be afraid of them, I guess.”_** Nametsu continued reading her card then sighed at the sight.

 ** _“Shiratorizawa’s Ushijima-kun and Karasuno’s Sawamura-kun caught a bunch of victims! They’re currently the strongest combo right now, and it seems like they’re not planning to stop soon! So you guys better run!”_** Suzumeda roared frantically.

“Yeah, tell us _how_ to run then! These guys are a menace!” Futamata snarled, fighting the urge to pause and look back to see how many of his friends were still with him. Instead he was caught face to face by the **green** demon, smiling petrifyingly. The Johzenji group was trapped between Daishou and Daichi at the mouth of the entrance.

“Fuck you, Daishou!” Numai cursed from afar. “This is what you’ve been doing?!”

“Fuck you too, I want that money! Now, out with you!” The Nohebi captain lunged to grab the closest person—Futamata nearly dropped down when he swayed to the other side to get away from him.

Beside the middle blocker, Nohebi’s Hiroo Koji hesitantly pushed their first year wing spiker right on to the black demon, making both Kuguri and Daichi trip and fall on the ground with a loud thump.

“Sorry, Kuguri! Please die for us!” Hiroo cried.

The poor wing spiker scowled, he totally saw this one coming. Kuguri was also a Nohebi student, after all.

“THEY BETRAYED EACH OTHER ALREADY!” Goshiki shouted, turning to his friends while still struggling to maintain his speed.

“Don’t look back, Goshiki! Just keep running!” Semi yelled back as he kept rushing forward.

“Of course coach Washijo was the one who decided that! Of fucking course!” Kawanishi snarled, eyes were wide open to avoid his captain’s jabs.

Yamagata barely dodged the demon’s hand. He stomped harder when he landed so he won’t collapse on his knees. “Please have mercy, captain! Why did you even agree to this?!”

“But if I get 200 Yen for each and every one of you and the others, we’ll get around 4,000 Yen for our club funds.” Ushijima said matter-of-factly.

Tendou frowned at him. “Do you REALLY think our volleyball club is THAT cheap, Wakatoshi-kun?!”

Ushijima actually had the _audacity_ to act confused.

“But money is money?”

Reon wanted to laugh at his captain’s honesty. But he knew if he did, he’d be out of breath quickly.

“Ugh, you’re unbelievable!”

****

**_”By the way, if in the end everyone is out, the 100,000 Yen becomes the property of the Demons and the committee. I’m counting on you guys, so do your best!”_** Suzumeda announced, looking chipper as ever.

Hearing that, the Inarizaki Volleyball Club realized this was probably the scariest version of Kita they’d ever seen _—because they’re gonna fuckin’ die._

“So that’s what the coaches are after?! Is that what it is?!” Suna complained.

“HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO RUN FROM HIM?!” Akagi shrieked blaringly. The strict Inarizaki captain was carefully running after them, eyes locked to conceal their bracelets. Kita was not the fastest out of all captains, but he’s leading in stamina so before you know it, he could be right in front of you, not breaking a sweat.

“I remember his grandma’s birthday is in 3 days, he must’ve wanted the prize money!” Aran answered, seemingly tense and restless. “That’s the only thing he’s been talkin’ all week, he’s serious ‘bout this!”

“Damn you, Kita-san!” Ginjima cursed as the **maroon** demon managed to touch his back. Kita only smiled at the display.

“Please don’t cuss, Gin. T’was impolite.”

Ginjima opened his mouth to argue back but Kita had already left his spot to catch more of his teammates.

“We’ll get caught easily if we’re in a group! Split up, split up!” the libero suggested, which the group quickly nodded as they didn’t have any better idea.

Oomimi and Akagi made a sharp turn to the other side of the field while both Osamu and Suna with a few others went to the opposite direction, trying to get into other doors to enter the west indoor building. Atsumu was dragged by Aran to find their way to the dormitories—or the Sports Science building. Anywhere with multiple hiding spots, really.

Before they’re too far apart, Atsumu called out for his twin brother at the top of his lungs. “’SAMU, DON’T DIE!”

“YOU TOO, ‘TSUMU!” Osamu hastily replied before he’s out of Atsumu’s line of sight.

Aran groaned. “What kinda crap are ya guys playin’?!”

Suna wished he could record the entire chaos and commemorate the embarrassing shit the twins had shown them once again. Too bad he put his phone on his pant pocket and he needed to slow down to take it out.

And he wanted that new headphone. But man, his eyes were so, _so_ heavy.

****

**_”Itachiyama’s Iizuna-kun has paired up with Suwa-kun from Kamomedai to tag their teammates! We’ve heard that Iizuna-kun was recently down with an ankle injury—but he’s proved himself to everyone that he’s in tip-top condition, and Suwa-kun is steadily following him right behind!”_ **

“How is that possible!? So were you lying to us, Iizuna-san?” Komori wailed. “Last night you told us you needed to rest early because your ankle was acting up again! Since when did you plan this?!”

Iizuna straight up chuckled, not denying anything. Quite honestly—their captain’s laughter was so contagious to the point that you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing along, but now was not the time and they all knew it.

“Please don’t hate me! That 100,000 Yen is so tempting, I can’t help myself!”

“Thank God you’re one of the demons.” Sakusa’s run came to a halt, hand reaching out to the **yellow** demon. “Just tag me out, right here and now. I’m gonna end up being disqualified anyway, so it’ll be better for you to do it. Besides Wakatoshi-kun’s and your hand are less dirty, I think.”

“SAKUSA, NO!” Komori pulled his cousin’s extended hand in rapid speed and dragged him away from Iizuna and Suwa.

The Itachiyama Captain laughed even louder at those two who scurried off in panic. He’s having fun, at least.

Meanwhile, Suwa was having a hard time catching Hoshiumi as he’s ten times faster than him. If the **blue** demon didn’t team up with Iizuna, almost everyone in Kamomedai would’ve escaped his grasps by now.

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS, AIKICHI-KUN!” Nozawa’s voice screeched in his ear as he nearly toppled to the ground from bumping other players.

“THAT 100,000 YEN IS MINE, CAPTAIN!” Hakuba followed soon after. The Kamomedai wing spiker was going alongside with Bessho to the indoor building as both Hirugami and Hoshiumi had disappeared from Suwa’s line of sight when he turned around.

Suwa knew that it’ll be way harder for him to find them if they reached the building. Still, he had _eleven_ other demons to back him up. All he needed to do was to surround them all together.

****

**_“Oikawa-kun and Kiryuu-kun had caught a lot of their own team already! These captains are living up to expectations, they’re very determined!”_ **

“I think she meant to use the word “goddamn persistent!”” Iwaizumi kept running with Hanamaki and Matsukawa, not daring to turn around because the last time they did, they saw the **cyan** and **brown** demons trampled on half of Seijoh and Mujinazaka in one dart.

Matsukawa snorted. “But those are two words.”

“Oooooh, Iwaizumi can’t count. That’s to be expected, I guess.” Hanamaki lazily mocked.

Iwaizumi was unimpressed. “Who the hell thought it was a good idea to make that asshole the demon, huh?! He didn’t tell us shit, for fuck’s sake! I should’ve known the 100,000 Yen was too good to be true!”

The duo laughed at their ace’s irritated face.

“You’re not wrong.” Matsukawa playfully admitted.

“True, they should have made _you_ the demon!” Hanamaki added.” That face could make any 5 year olds cry!”

“I swear to God.” Iwaizumi said in exasperation.

Half an hour hadn’t even passed, but Iwaizumi already knew this event sucked ass. Iwaizumi should’ve seen this coming when he realized Oikawa wasn’t there to annoy the living shit out of him for a full minute. Now that he thought back, Oikawa had been spending more time with the other captains since the very first day they got here.

The Seijoh Captain had uncharacteristically spoken in low volume (not that different from his regular voice anyway) whenever he’s around the group. _The bastard was definitely planning something._

And he was right. Iwaizumi Hajime had always been right if it’s about his (unfortunately) best friend, he’s not happy about it, though. Iwaizumi knew for a fact that Oikawa couldn’t care less about the club funds, he’s almost certain that the reason he participated in the first place was for the chance to mess with the team without the coach yelling at him.

Matsukawa led them to the backdoor entrance to Sports Science building he claimed to find when he was strolling with Hanamaki around the west parking lot (Iwaizumi also didn’t want to know what these two were up to in their spare time). The middle blocker told him that literally no one used that door so they’re going to be demon-free for at least a few hours before switching places.

Iwaizumi wasn’t sure if he wanted to team up with probably the second and third most annoying people on earth, but it’s better than trying to hide alone because Iwaizumi couldn’t even trust himself going on his own without getting lost.

“Bring it on, Shittykawa!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> Date Tech students are wrinkly brained, change my mind. Next chapter will start with our favorite opposite hitter, Iwaizumi Hajime himself! A little side note though, 100,000 yen is approximately 1000 US Dollars or almost 14 million Indonesian Rupiah. Not a lot for a gameshow prize but just enough to make broke high school teens go ballistic.
> 
> Also, if there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya!


	3. 10 Incredible Uses For Compact Disks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makki and Mattsun's attempt on winning the game while iwaizumi suffers, the fic.
> 
> [8 PM - part I]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)

* * *

**8** **PM [** **11** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS: 179** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: JISS 1F – Common Lounge]**

“Guys?”

“Hey look, they have the entirety of Shrek movies.” Hanamaki shoved out exactly 5 CD cases onto the table where Matsukawa was sitting. “I saw Star Wars and Jurassic Park complete set of videos in these disks too. How did they find these while they were explicitly copyrighted? Disney could sue some guy's poor ass.”

“Ew, those are mainstreams crap you got there.” Matsukawa replied, not even looking away from checking out the bookshelves. “And Shrek is from Dreamworks, check your facts, fam. They probably bought them from the actual store though, these CDs are very high quality and I don't see any signs of it being a rental or secondhand. As expected from a National ranked college.”

Iwaizumi took a deep breath. “Guys.”

Hanamaki tilted his head and pouted. “Excuse me, Star Wars is a classic. And I thought Dreamworks is owned by Disney? What does National ranked college have anything to do with owning some movies…” The pink haired teen placed the CD he was holding to the floor and opened another drawers full of movies. Hanamaki hummed in amusement as he looked through the back of the CD case to see the date when the movies were released. ‘They have a bunch of old movies here, it ranged from Japanese, Korean, Thai, and American to Indian shows in this drawer.”

“Sweet.” Matsukawa idly commented, placing down the books that he'd found in the shelves on the floor. “Can you find any Ghibli movies in your place? I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. Bee movie is also an open option, we always have Bee movie to be our go-to in movie nights. Or Barnyard, I miss my man Biggie Cheese.”

Hanamaki scoffed. “Gross, dude. But sure, lemme find 'em in a sec.”

“ _Guys,_ we—“

Hanamaki's eyes scanned the neatly stacked movies before gasping, “Oh Neptune's shit, they have full seasons of Young Justice and TMNT!”

The middle blocker jerked his head back in an instant. “Seriously? Is it original or dubbed?”

“It's uhh...” Hanamaki frowned when he read the back of the CD. “Japanese dub.”

Matsukawa groaned. ‘That's it, they ruined it. If I can't hear Donatello's angelic voice then what's the point.”

“I prefer Raphael but sure.” Hanamaki placed the CD he's currently holding to the ground and tried to reach the top shelves to look for more. “Whatever you say.”

“No way, Raphael is way too edgy for me. But we both know that Michelangelo is the best.”

”Oh God, _yes_.”

Iwaizumi let out a gruff sigh. They've been ignoring him for a while now.

When he swore to crush his childhood friend-turned-demon the Oikawa Tooru once and for all, he should've guessed that the two of his friends might not share the same intentions as he was. In fact, ever since they got inside the Sports Science building to avoid the crowd, Matsukawa and Hanamaki had been very lax given the situation in hand. The back entrance directed them to the common Gym that connected to the Lounge which led them to the completely open break area full of movies and videogames to entertain whoever visited.

Iwaizumi hadn't seen anyone else in first floor of the Sports Science building. Matsukawa was right about the lesser known entrance— he didn't even see any demons for the past 2 hours, but he did hear occasional screams from outside and _inside_ of the building. He wasn't sure where exactly it came from. At least they're kind of far away from the crowd, right?

The Lounge itself was a sight to behold, Iwazumi couldn't help but admit. Actually, the moment he walked past the back entrance Iwaizumi knew that the place was amazing by default. They could see the outdoor pool from behind the dark windows and the Seijoh vice-captain had to stop them from wanting to dip their legs into the water. Reading off the “gas water/pool heater” sign in the synchronized swimming section didn't help his case at all.

Once the three of them stepped into the second Lounge and was met with a big screen hanging proudly on the wall, Hanamaki and Matsukawa immediately took the bait. The duo didn't bother to keep their voices low as they kept exchanging small talks about any interesting things they've found in the room. He had to give it to the campus for making the whole place comfortable and well-kept so any athletes could have a quality rest, Iwaizumi had been interested in the world of sports science ever since he'd known that it existed so he tried to know more about it while balancing with his busy club activities schedules.

It's not like Iwaizumi would go so far in volleyball with his current ability-which he honestly didn't mind, people like Oikawa deserved the spotlight more so than he did since they worked harder for their goals. His best friend was too hard working for his own good, Oikawa would practice anytime he could— and that was _stupid_ because the dumbass didn't know how to take care of himself. If he could major in sports science and got his degree out of that, Iwaizumi could finally win an argument with Oikawa about not knowing anything about his personal training regime. Oikawa wouldn't be able to talk back to him because then he got a physical _proof_ that he indeed, knew one or two shits about athletes training.Iwaizumi would gladly carry his diploma everywhere if it meant for Oikawa to listen to him for a goddamn second.

The idea of coaching didn't sound like a bad at all. He enjoyed anything sports related and he'd want to share his passion to younger students and athletes as he helped them to be better at what they do. Iwaizumi was determined to guide them in their studies, or pretty much reassure them that the next step they were taking was the correct one. It'd be a great feat to both parties, but Iwaizumi wanted to keep looking at positive side and think of what he could do in his life.

The day when he told his friends about the possibility of him pursuing that path, Iwaizumi was greeted by made up gasps and mocking praises by Matsukawa and Hanamaki, excited cheers from Yuda, neutral hums from both Shido and Sawauchi and a stunned Oikawa. He should've expected that his best friend would react like this.

Years of knowing Oikawa and standing next to him, they'd finally part ways.

They had chosen volleyball together after all, and if one of them were to stir away from the road that's been walking on since they were kids to take another path, it bound to cause a conflict between them. If Iwaizumi was in his shoes and Oikawa told them that he'll quit volleyball after high school for a reason he couldn’t understand, he'd be mad too so he couldn't blame Oikawa for reacting that way. It's not like he'd stop playing altogether, but he'd be focused more on the science and with technicalities of sports in college.

Iwaizumi readied himself for the captain to explode with accusing questions, yet he was met with a cheesy and way too wide of a smile, accompanied by a hard pat on his back and a booming laugh, "Thank God! I was scared if Iwa-chan become a homeless bum after high school because he's being too indecisive, I don't wanna babysit an overgrown baby gorilla!" the ace smacked Oikawa's head right there and then.

The Seijoh captain went on about how proud he actually felt when Iwaizumi came to them to tell about his career choice, much to Iwaizumi's surprise. Oikawa was just happy that Iwaizumi found something else he wanted to do. He even confessed that he didn't expect anyone of them to continue playing volleyball seriously and he totally understood why. Their lives didn't always have to revolve around volleyball above all, although the captain was a bit betrayed that Iwaizumi didn't include him to discuss about his future plans.

Since when did his childhood friend become so... well, mature wasn't the right word, maybe tolerable? Decent? Just plain okay?

Well, Oikawa himself was smart in his own ways (way smarter than Iwaizumi was in term of academics but that's not the point) so he must've grown out of that childish mindset a long time ago where Iwaizumi was still busy figuring out how quadratic formulas worked. He was just glad that he didn't somehow wound their more than a decade worth of friendship because of his decision. He'd really miss all of his friends.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hanamaki's wheezes cutting through the 2 seconds of brief silence.

“Oi, look at these! They have freaking Avengers!” The outside hitter flailed his left hand to show Matsukawa the Marvel CDs and carrying a few other disks in the other. “It's in English with Japanese subtitles, complete with extra credits scenes and some recordings of the actors playing in the movie!”

Matsukawa looked at Hanamaki with wide eyes at the reveal. “All of them?!”

“All of them!”

“You're joking.”

“See it for yourself. They have the lists of soundtracks, BGMs and everything in another CD too.”

Hanamaki moved closer to let him see the cover of the CDs. Matsukawa's hand shot to his mouth as he audibly gasped.

“How the heck did they get those?!” The middle blocker stood up from his seat and scurried to his friend's side. His face was filled with awe when he read the title covers and contents. “No kidding!”

At least their banter made Iwaizumi snapped him back to reality. The sad reality that he _won't_ be able to escape from this place to pursue his dreams before completing this poor excuse of a game. They were all technically adults and who the hell watched those anymore? Though Iwaizumi himself was guilty of still watching and reading his favorite monster-esque movies and mangas, but was this really the time to be worked up?

Iwaizumi shot a glare at his friends who were completely unaware of the intensity of their ace's eyes. He had let them off lightly the past few instances, but Iwaizumi was reaching the end of his fuse.

“Hanamaki, Matsukawa!”

The duo jolted at the ace's sudden outburst. Hanamaki's hand was comically suspended in air from trying to get more books from the highest shelves as he stared at Iwaizumi in utter shock. Matsukawa had broken out from the blow to look at him in confusion.

How darethem to look so confused.

Iwaizumi took another deep breath before pressing on, “Now what the _fuck_ have you two been d—“

For the millionth time that night, he was cut off again by a loud synchronized sigh from the pair.

Matsukawa was the first one to speak. “What was that for, Iwaizumi?”

“You're being too loud man, geez.” Hanamaki put a hand on his hips. “I swear if we got caught, we’re gonna blame it all on you.”

“Yeah, and we’ve been doing great at that before you decided to scream.” Matsukawa agreed.

The ace could feel anger flooded in his veins and clenched his fists. The duo was clearly baiting him to explode. _No,_ they’re not getting the best of him with this anymore. Sure, Oikawa was usually the cause of his early gray hairs but these two were equally insufferable—he had to bear it as he didn’t want to look pathetic when he swore to kick Oikawa’s ass in his own game if their action drove him off this quickly, and they’re not even 2 hours in.

“I just wanted to point out,” Iwaizumi turned to Hanamaki and began, “—we’re wasting our time playing in this open room. The Lounge is too cramped from the start and the starting fields are not too far from here so it’s only a matter of time before this place will be filled with other runaways.” He sent another glare at Matsukawa who lightly snorted. “The three of us didn’t have any choice of hiding spots to begin with and then you two just throw these disks all over the floor, now we can’t even have any space to maneuver if demons got in! What were you thinking? What are you even trying to accomplish?!”

Matsukawa and Hanamaki shared a look, occasionally shooting short glances at Iwaizumi who had the heart to actually be patient and waited for them to form a legit answer. The patience wouldn’t last long if the duo kept belittling him, although he knew they just playfully did it to annoy the ace. But everything had boundaries and Iwaizumi was making one right now.

After what felt to be a lifelong telepathic conversation, the middle blocker made eye contact with Iwaizumi again. “Are you being serious?”

Iwaizumi blinked. “What.”

Hanamaki furrowed his eyebrows. “Ah, shucks.” He spat. “I thought after three years of us hanging out as a tight squad you could’ve guessed what we’re thinking just by looking at us, Iwaizumi. I guess not.”

“Maybe he’s not spiritually connected with us enough?” Matsukawa offered.

Hanamaki gasped, “Crap, that might be it.”

Iwaizumi spoke up again before migraines made his way to his head, “What the hell are you saying? Sorry if you feel hurt, but there’s no way in hell I could tell if you guys are in question. No way.” He weakly shook his head. “I’ve spent my entire childhood with that bastard yet I still have no idea what the fuck is going on in his head, especially not you two.”

“It’s really depressing that I could tell who ‘bastard’ is immediately. Kinda feel bad for him.” Hanamaki let out a soft chuckle. “Kinda.”

Yeah, right.

The only reason why these two were bullying him so much was because the main victim— _Oikawa_ wasn’t there to fill the role.

“You two haven’t even answered my initial question! What the fuck are you doing with those disks?” Iwaizumi folded his arms on his chest. “This better be a good.”

Matsukawa and Hanamaki shared another look. Thankfully the middle blocker finally answered before the ace grew more and more impatient, even though it wasn’t the answer Iwaizumi wanted.

"Are you blind or what? Look around you."

Iwaizumi fought back a groan at the insult but decided to listen anyway and spared a glance to the entire room, only to meet dozens of scattered movie disks on the floor. The ace squinted to be able to get a clearer inspection in the dark to the ones lying on the ground and found that the disks were actually lined up to cover the carpet—leaving one pathway to navigate through the rest of the room. Some were neatly stacked to two short towers on the coffee table with the plastic plant pot sitting on each ends that he thought probably to make sure the CDs didn't fall off. They'd only been there for less than 30 minutes, how did the two managed to mess up a single room?

“All I can pick up from this observation is that you two would need the whole night to clean this shit up.” Iwaizumi said in absolute disgust. He really should've gone with Yahaba or Kyoutani.

“No, idiot.” Hanamaki put a hand on his forehead and sighed. “How come you didn't catch that the first time you see the room?”

Iwaizumi didn’t say anything and gave them an absolute look of skepticism. Matsukawa shook his head at the sight. “My, he's not gifted with the intellect of genius tricksters such as us, Makki.” He delicately put a hand over Hanamaki's shoulder. “Our schemes are beyond what common people like him can grasp. Give the poor man a break.”

Oh, if Iwaizumi could throw two of those disks at them without making a sound and cause property damage, he definitely would. They’re already old enough to get full charges and he’s not taking chances on committing a crime in national property. So instead, he asked again. “Care to elaborate?”

“Very well then!” Hanamaki’s face visibly perked up on this and clasped his hands together. “As you can see, these movies are all laying helplessly on the floor, they’re either waiting to be put back in their comfortable drawers or to be _stepped on by unassuming teenagers._ ” The wing spiker pointed out exactly where the scattered disks started and where it ended and Iwaizumi’s eyes followed. Dozens of compact disk covers were placed near the doors but just enough space for anyone to walk around it. “Not our best trap project but it’ll work just fine.”

Matsukawa seemed to notice the forming confusion in Iwaizumi’s face and added, “What we meant to do is to make a possible trap to whoever will enter this room next, doesn’t matter if it’s a demon or another participant. If a player entered, then there’s gonna be less competitors for the prize since it’d surely slow them down if they’re being chased. If a demon entered, great! Then those bastards would have to pay for the broken disks with money they made off of this.”

“Once we’re done, we’ll just leave and find other rooms to trash. We’re all probably gonna end up cleaning the entire facility in the morning anyway, so might as well go all out.” He pointed to the last unbothered door that’s closest to them. “That door leads to some club’s workplace and we should go upstairs to camp in a solid room to hide in.”

Iwaizumi thought for a moment. While the ace had an emotional rollercoaster about deciding a morally accepted answer to win the game, these two idiots went with an insane route with no hesitation. He should’ve expected it coming from them. How did the four of them able to survive three years together when they consider arson in every occasion and would’ve been down for it if one of them weren’t around to question their behavior? It’s a wonder that the buildings they stayed in hadn’t burnt down after a long week of training camp.

His mind went to the time when Oikawa got his hands on free tickets to the local amusement park on a Saturday but Hanamaki couldn’t come since he had to visit his grandparents—the three of them somehow broke multiple bumper cars when Matsukawa claimed to be the best “bumper car racer” in the world, if that even existed. Or that one time when Oikawa had to miss a practice match to go to a hospital for his scheduled knee checkup, no one was there to tell Iwaizumi to tie his shoelaces since the other two weren’t as observant as the captain, making the poor middle blocker fell face first to the ground and broke his nose. Or that time when Aobajohsai had a study tour to Hiroshima last July but Iwaizumi was too sick to participate, the three of them got lost because Hanamaki took so long to order a cupcake from a random food stall and got separated with their class. Or maybe that time when Matsukawa needed to go home early to pick up his little sister from her school because his parents were out of town, no one was there to come between Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s fight before Kindaichi’s stray volleyball hit the back of Hanamaki’s head.

If the four of them weren’t together, it’s just asking for a disaster to happen. The ace couldn’t even imagine what would happen once they graduated and left with their own devices.

“Hello?” His head jerked back when Hanamaki snapped his fingers. “Earth to Iwaizumi?”

Iwaizumi shoved the wing spiker’s hand out of his face and clicked his tongue. “Shut the hell up, I’m thinking.”

“You? Thinking? Neat. Maybe we have a chance to win this after all.” Matsukawa commented, voice incredibly fond. “So what are you thinking?”

“Come to the dark side if you wanna beat the shit out of Oikawa! Sure, he might not come inside the Sports Science building at all but it’ll feel good once you did something to make things hard for them, and that’s a fact!” Hanamaki said, exchanging confident smirk with Matsukawa.

Iwaizumi considered his next response. Did he _really_ want to go along with these guys? Hanamaki wasn’t wrong about wanting to make an effort—he wouldn’t let anyone get off of this without any problems even just a little. For sure he admitted that he’s not smart enough to think of a better plan, plus the night air and exhaustion were getting into his head as well.

Fuck it.

“Sure, whatever. Let’s—“

The creaking noise from opening a wooden door and the room had become deathly quiet. All heads instinctively turned to the door free from CD cases to make their way out but stopped on their tracks when they heard a pair of familiar voices.

“—and then Irihata-san said that we have to patrol around the area to—” the younger Aobajohsai coach; Mizoguchi didn’t get to finish his sentence to the other man as he tripped over a stack of disks right in front the door. He was caught by the arm seconds before his body fall on top the scattered items by Anabara, the Johzenji coach.

“What in the world?” Mizoguchi lifted his head to see his surroundings in the dark. He thought a big hurricane just took place in the room as everything was so out of order. His eyes landed to three frozen figures across the room staring at the coaches with wide eyes. The Aobajohsai coach didn’t have the best sense in night vision to make out who they were but Hanamaki’s bright pinkish brown hair gave their identities away easily. “The hell are you brats doing here—?!”

“Shhhh!” Matsukawa motioned the two men to be quiet which they both quickly complied although Coach Mizoguchi looked very much annoyed at the rude and abrupt request. Iwaizumi felt like their coach already understood what they were doing just by looking. At least that saved them for explaining it all over again and wasted more time in hand.

“This place is really… different from usual. Did you three try to block the entrances with those movie covers?” Coach Anabara noted, earning an exasperated “duh” from Mizoguchi. “Well, you’re Hanamaki-kun and Matsukawa-kun from Seijoh, right? I honestly did expect you two would do something like this considering your track record in our 7 days-worth of camp, but Iwaizumi-kun too?”

The ace winced at the mention of his name and lifted both of his hands on his chest in defeat. “To be fair, I didn’t start this. They were already on it when I realized what they were trying to do.”

“Wow, good job Iwaizumi! Throwing your best friends under the bus, I see.” Hanamaki remarked, mostly joking. Matsukawa snickered at that.

“Oh, shut up, you’re not making things any better!” Iwaizumi punched Matsukawa’s shoulder but the middle blocker only cackled louder. He managed to stop himself from laughing before he totally lost it.

“So what are you doing all the way here, coach? I thought I saw you with the other coaches chilling near the stage when the whole thing was announced.” Hanamaki asked, obviously shifting the attention from the mess they’d created. “And you two came from the backdoor too! Are you familiar with the place?”

Mizoguchi scoffed and put both hands on his hips. “Of course we are. Everyone in the committee knows about the full layout of the facilities, including the demons and managers.”

The news of Matsukawa’s “secret” passageway was not as mysterious as they thought it was made the three sigh internally. _Damn, just when they were starting to feel safe._

“Yikes, glad we didn’t run into anyone, then.” Matsukawa said. “I take that you guys are on patrol or something?’

“Yes, that’s correct.” Anabara nodded. “It’s only common sense to monitor the players in each available buildings, even Washijo-san is taking over the surveillance cameras since there’s no way we’re letting kids like you do what you want in a national property. Things like _these._ ” He pointed at the messy floor and the trio flinched. Seeing their tensed features, the Johzenji coach sighed. “No, don’t worry. We won’t rat anyone out, just take this as an early warning to not go overboard. As you all probably know, everyone will have to clean everything after themselves and all damage you’ve caused will be paid by yourselves too. I believe you three understand what I’m trying to say?”

The third years nodded as he finished. Anabara was about to say something to them for understanding but Hanamaki was faster. “We only set the disks on the floor and they’re left unharmed. If someone else stepped on it then the damage is on them, right?”

Anabara was taken aback by the reply and Mizoguchi was fuming if he wasn’t already. “Oh, you little brat—” the other man’s hand shot to muffle his mouth which Mizoguchi shoved them away in a matter of seconds. “Hey, stop doing that!”

“Apologies, but you’re being too loud, Mizoguchi.” Anabara went to adjust his glasses before continuing, “I can see that you’re in a hurry but it would be ideal if you three clean them immediately. I understand that you three wanted to win, but please consider other people’s wellbeing.”

“But that’s the reason why we’re doing it in the first place, who cares about those extras?” Matsukawa shot back. “We want them to slow down and drop dead by the hands of those damn demons.”

Iwaizumi suppressed a chuckle from escaping his lips when he looked at the coaches’ faces. Mizoguchi should be used with their antics already but maybe there were still a lot of things that threw him off. Iwaizumi had to give it to his friends for being set on their plans even though he didn’t fully agree with it.

His coach noticed the side of Iwaizumi’s mouth ticking up and frowned. “Not you too, Iwaizumi… I trusted you.” Mizoguchi sighed. “Well, mostly with Oikawa but I guess I can’t really trust you with Matsukawa and Hanamaki, can I? So all I need to keep them at bay is cream puffs and a cheese filled hamburg steak.” he ignored Hanamaki and Matsukawa who were about to retort and stared at Iwaizumi, “What do you have to say for yourself?

The ace hesitated for a moment. “I mean, I could make sure they’ll clean every inch of this room the next day if that’s what’s bugging you. That was our original plan anyways, and we gotta bounce from this place since anyone who isn’t a coach or a player could enter any minute now.”

Anabara seemed to consider this and patted Mizoguchi’s shoulder. The Aobajohsai coach looked like he’s going to protest but let out a loud sigh nonetheless. Iwaizumi wished he had the powers to completely shut anyone down with just a single pat on the shoulder. He had so many things to learn from the man.

“Iwaizumi-kun is right, Mizoguchi. We’re only here to patrol and nothing else really, other than occasional warnings but Iwaizumi-kun has given us a valid argument.” Anabara fixed his glasses again. “We’ll leave you three for now. Do whatever you want with it but you three are old enough to be charged with property damage if you break something in this campus.”

“Yessir!” Matsukawa and Hanamaki replied almost in instant. Iwaizumi soon followed with a hesitant “Sure.”

The Johzenji coach was content but the response but Mizoguchi didn’t share the same sentiment. “Please don't say “anything” to high schoolers, they would go on their ways to find out any possible loop holes to stretch out the rules!”

“Aw, come on coach! Trust us a little, would youuu?” Hanamaki whined, voice mimicking Oikawa on purpose. He burst out laughing when he saw Iwaizumi cringed in disgust.

“Gosh, you three are unbelievable. It makes me real glad that at least one of you isn’t around to complete the puzzle.” The Aobajohsai coach groaned. It was Matsukawa’s turn to perk up.

“Speaking of which, where did Oikawa run off to? He didn’t go inside this building right?” Matsukawa asked.

Mizoguchi squinted to nowhere in particular as to trying to recall. “I’m actually not sure? The last time I saw him was when he dropped by the backstage to get his demon headband and gloves. I didn’t see where he ran off to—don’t give me that look! How am I supposed to know his whereabouts in the whole facility?”

“Still useless, though…” Hanamaki pouted as he shoved his hands inside his pocket. “That didn’t give us any info on how to counter him!”

Anabara shook his head. “Don’t be like that Hanamaki-kun. Us coaches have their own things to do in this event you see. We didn’t even know what event it was until 3 days ago since this is a team-driven activity, which means the captains themselves came up with the game. The rest of us just went along with it.”

The third year trio collectively groaned at the answer.

Hanamaki put a palm on his forehead. “Wow, that’s tooootally unexpected.”

“I should’ve been able to guess it.” Matsukawa sighed.

“Of fucking course the captains were the one who came up with this shit—” Iwaizumi cursed before he could stop himself. He didn’t care about Mizoguchi since he heard him swear literally 24/7 so he turned to Anabara who thankfully didn’t seem to mind his accidental inappropriate remarks.

Hanamaki seemed to notice and decided to comment on it. “You’re surprisingly strict for someone who manages Johzenji! And those guys are nuts, you must have godlike patience or something like that.”

“I’m quite lenient, you know.” Anabara answered. “Sometimes you have to listen to your students, even if they say the weirdest things.”

Mizoguchi folded his arms and gave a hum of acknowledgement.

Iwaizumi widened his eyes at the mention of students. “I just remembered. How come I didn’t see Terushima anywhere? He’s from Johzenji, right?”

“Ahh, you’re right! The guy has such a big presence, how come I didn’t notice he was around?” Hanamaki pointed out.

Then the Johzenji coach smiled for the first time since he entered the room. Iwaizumi wasn’t sure if Hanamaki and Matsukawa felt it too but his grin was extremely unsettling.

“Now, now, simply focus on yourselves, alright? Terushima-kun is probably doing the same thing as you are right now, considering the boy.” Anabara gleefully said, patting Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s shoulders that were closest to him. “Okay! Now that it’s out of the way, off you go then. We wasted enough of your time already, right?”

Iwaizumi glanced over at the other third years who confirmed him with a nod.

“Great! I hope that you’ll get through the night even if you come across with the biggest problems out there.”

_Couldn’t he just pray that they wouldn’t meet any problems at all? Well that was fucking ominous_.

Iwaizumi had no choice but to always assume the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> Good news! My internship will end this week, so I'd probably start updating weekly. Next up we'll have unexpected players join forces! 
> 
> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) | [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/)


	4. A Stranger Snuck Into Our House! || STORYTIME

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange deal was made by duos from Nekoma, Fukuroudani and Shiratorizawa... and Karasuno by extension.
> 
> [8 PM - part II]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> A lil reminder again that I'm not a native English speaker and I haven't been in the National Training Center before, I only rely on the info I get in the internet so some of the places might be inaccurate >< But I'll try!
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

**8** **PM [** **11** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS:** **176** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: Athlete Village 2F Hallways - Dorm Rooms 200-220]**

"Where did Tendou go?"

Reon’s head jerked back when Yamagata tapped his tense shoulder, which caused the libero to flinch from the touch and raised both of his hands to his chest with wide eyes.

“Woah! You’re okay there, Reon?” Yamagata offered. He took a step back to give the wing spiker some space to adjust himself. “You’ve been quiet, and you look pretty out of it so I just want to check…”

The black haired teen blinked at his friend a few times before remembering where they were. Dark and long carpeted hallways with plenty lined up doors on each sides of the wall, a clear indication that it’s the Athlete Village building they had spent a week sleeping in. The sight itself was quite different from daytime and the unfamiliarity threw him off.

Everything still felt unreal for Reon. Coach Hibarida told them it was an off season for most sport athletes. That’s how they got the whole camp for themselves initially after all. They wouldn’t barge into places that had already scheduled to use by others—especially professionals. If the NTC wasn’t available, they would’ve used the Fukuroudani Academy or Itachiyama Academy for the camp as their schools were the biggest out of all them who got the lottery to Tokyo but they’re lucky enough to use the best facilities in all Japan.

There were a lot of other young athletes training at the same time as the high school teams. Sometimes several of them would drop by to watch their practice and show their support, even Reon managed to make an acquaintance with a couple of people from powerhouse schools who played basketball that also had a Youth Camp training there.

The volleyball folks took the entire first and second floors in Athlete Village and the third floor up was exclusively for others. Every night was full of surprises with everyone meeting each other in the common area, although there were times that a fight almost broke out. What an experience.

Why would Hibarida Fuki, _the_ Hibarida Fuki—the coach for the Japan Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team, be in charge of their training camp in the first place? Sure, maybe the National Training Center was his domain and there was no current events happening in the Volleyball community, but why? The most likely answer was that he’s truly interested in their lineups for this generation, but surely there were better things to do for a professional coach like him?

What a weird guy.

“I’m okay. I just need to calm myself, is all.” Reon chose to say.

They’ve been running for a whole hour since the Shiratorizawa group split up in the fields, the reason being their own respective captain. They still couldn’t believe Ushijima would do them like that, even though the captain had already told them the reason why he’s doing what he’s doing. The reason itself was also very on-brand of him.

A significant amount of players had made their way to the Athlete Village and the Shiratorizawa duo was lucky enough to get to the quieter parts of the building. Even so, Reon was quite saddened by the fact that it was only the two of them here; him and Yamagata. He remembered spotting Shirabu’s signature copper-hair running off with a couple of second years from other schools—a pleasant surprise as he didn’t know that the prickly setter chose to be with them than his own team despite being a selective-antisocial. He should be happy for him for having friends but Reon couldn’t help but feel like an old mother with her slowly maturing children. Speaking of which, he wasn’t sure where Goshiki went after they got into the facility’s main parking spot. He could only assume the bowl cut teen took refuge in the Sports Science with some Nekoma students as he didn’t see him after they passed the said building.

What Reon didn’t remember were Kawanishi, Soekawa, Semi and the rest of the first years. Still, who could blame him for not paying attention? He was busy trying to escape too, you know.

Was that everyone? Who else was he missing?

_Wait, didn’t Hayato say Satori?_

“What did you say about Satori again?” Reon asked, finally making eye contact.

“Like I said, he’s gone! He was literally here a minute ago.” Yamagata huffed for having to repeat himself. “It’s as if he just vanished into thin air. You remember the three of us entered the building together right? I just realized he wasn’t there when we got to the second floor.”

“Is that so? I didn’t even notice…” Reon gave a hum of recognition, trying his best to remember where the red head had been. Truthfully, he was so out of it that it didn’t even register to him that Tendou suddenly disappeared from his line of sight. He wasn’t the biggest player out there but his presence was huge compared to most players in the camp so you couldn’t really miss him. “Where do you think he went?” Reon offered before wincing. “Besides the possibility that he got caught without us knowing?”

“Since it’s Tendou that we’re taking about, he probably has tricks up his sleeves so he can’t be out this early, I just know it.” Yamagata assured him. “Not to mention the prize money, he’s definitely aiming to buy more of those Jump comics.”

“That does sound like him.” Reon sighed, feeling disappointed at the former though it was to be expected. “Any chances that he ditched us to win the prize alone?”

“Man, after three years of playing with that guy? Nah, he wouldn’t.” The libero laughed at this while trying to regulate his voice and made fan motions with his right hand. “I mean, maybe—if comics are on the line, but he might have other plans in mind. Plus, a group of three attracts more attention. If anything, we should use this opportunity that Tendou gave us even if the guy felt too cool to at least inform us first.”

“You might be right.” Reon agreed. “The hallways are way smaller compared to other buildings in the facility. It’ll be hard to run away if the demons spot us from the end of the hall.”

“Blessing in disguise, if I dare to say?”

Reon chuckled. “Sure, just call it that. We’re scolding Satori when it’s over though.”

”Of course!” Yamagata agreed, clenching his fists. “Especially if one of us actually won that delicious ¥100.000. Ask Wakatoshi to buy us Yakiniku with his newly acquired money while we’re at it ‘cause he practically robbed us!”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The two continued to make their way through the empty hallways to find a solid hiding spot—while also trying not to flinch at occasional shouts coming from downstairs. The libero tried his best to stop himself from bolting to the source of noise after hearing multiple familiar voices of their underclassmen. Reon was convinced that he’s heard Sagae’s screams alongside Akakura’s from a floor below them, only to have Bokuto’s booming laughter drowning their futile pleads of mercy.

 _This is just a game,_ Reon murmured. He wasn’t sure who he’s trying to convince. At least the Fukuroudani ace was having fun. Hell, he’s _certain_ that every demon was having a blast.

It wasn’t like he wanted the money, really. But getting some would be nice and the massive competitive side of his wouldn’t let him give up easily so that’s a start. Reon simply felt a bit guilty for leaving his own teammates behind as he ran past and couldn’t do anything to help them get up on their feet.

But all man for himself, and the outside hitter had been eyeing a certain jacket for a while now.

Reon’s eyes landed to Hayato who attempted to twist the doorknob open to one of the rooms. Realizing that it’s locked, the libero tried again to the room next to it, and next to it, only to get the same result. Reon looked at the numbers written on the doors and noticed that it was his own shared room with Ushijima, Semi and Tendou, with the room next door being Goshiki’s and other first years.

The libero pouted, mulling over it for a while. “Didn't they say all rooms are unlocked? Surely it includes the dorm…”

Reon shook his head. “Maybe that's the thing. We are the ones who have the keys, right? So technically we have the option to do that. We could open the doors ourselves so people who have the keys are in luck.”

“Yeah, but if that’s so then why did they say _all_ rooms in _every_ buildings are open if they’re just going to exclude ¾ of Athlete Village?” Yamagata countered. “I had a feeling that either Oikawa, Iizuna Kuroo or Bokuto came up with this crappy game but there’s no way they’re making it so unfair for the players if it meant to be fun.” Watching Reon frown and look away, he continued. “The training camp grounds are extremely small in my opinion—if we put those crazy captains into consideration as there aren’t a lot of places to go since most rooms are big empty hall anyways.”

“You’re not wrong.” Reon agreed. “But opening every room is still a bit of a stretch. I don’t think they trust us enough to not mess with anything in vulnerable rooms so they just left us with rooms we already have access to.”

“Maybe…” Yamagata conceded, although he still sounded somewhat uncertain. He cursed under his breath and turned to Reon. “I should’ve expected that it’s locked. Who’s in charge of our room key again?”

“Eita, I think. He’s been holding onto it since day 1, remember?” Reon replied.

“Ugh, then it’s no use, then. If Semi has the key, then why didn’t he run here? Unbelievable.”

Reon managed out a laugh. “Don’t be too mean. We were all running for our lives.”

“Agh… I thought it’d be better to hide in our own dorm room at this rate, but if we don’t have any keys to begin with then what’s the point…” Yamagata let out a heavy exhale, putting both of his hands to his hips. “What’s next?”

“I…” Reon had to think for a moment. “I actually don’t know? I’ve been following you this whole time because I thought you know what you’re doing.”

“Oh man, bad mistake. Since when did I know what I’m doing?” Yamagata snickered on his left. “But seriously, where are we going to hide?”

Reon opened his mouth, seeming to think, shut it again and considered before replying, “Maybe try the theater room? I’ve been there a few times with Kamomedai’s Suwa-kun and Karasuno’s Ennoshita-kun.”

“Nope, the room is below us so it’s terrible idea.” Yamagata waved his hand dismissively. “I’d rather avoid the first floor if I have to choose. If we come across with Bokuto downstairs we’d be done for.”

The outside hitter shivered at the imagery of Bokuto charging to them in full speed. “You’re right. Then our other available options would be this floor’s study room, staff room or one of the meeting rooms.” Reon grimaced before continuing. “Well, the study room and staff room are all the way to the eastern part of the building. We can stick our backs on the wall and try to navigate ourselves in th—“

_Click._

Reon was the first one to react. Just as the noise registered to his mind, he grabbed Yamagata who’s still shocked by the arm and backed away a few steps from the source. Reon’s eyes couldn’t see well in the dark but they’re fast enough to catch exactly 4 figures stepping into a room from the end of the hallways. The duo hesitantly tiptoed to where they were going, stopping a couple of times to have their heads filled with doubts on who could’ve possibly entered the dorm room.

And that’s when they heard people talking.

They didn’t recognize any of his teammates’ voices mixed with the bunch or any other captains which was great. It meant that whoever’s inside must be another group of participants who had a key with them to open their own room. Yamagata and Reon shared a look before confirming that they had the same idea.

Yamagata and Reon were friendly enough with everyone outside of their team so they were pretty confident that the ones inside the room would be people that they know personally. The second floor rooms were occupied by Shiratorizawa, Karasuno, Aobajohsai, Johzenji and Date Tech while the rest got the first floor so they must’ve known at least one or two people resting there and ask if they could join them on the run. Reon had no idea why they would put the whole Miyagi teams on the same floor, that’s just asking for trouble. But no one had died yet, so he figured it wasn’t that bad to group them all together.

The two carefully—and quietly—walked to the slightly opened door (why didn’t they lock it?) and peeked through the cracks as they can’t be too careful. Reon lift his head up a little so Hayato could duck under him to get a view of the room in front of them. Reon counted three people standing restlessly while the another person was already sprawling across the bed and he could only guess that he’s sleeping from the shallow breaths shown on his chest. The dimness of the room made it harder for them to make out the identities of the occupants.

Yamagata couldn’t recall their body proportions and the lack of light didn’t help his case, he’s great at guessing but he didn’t have anything to back up his predictions. From there, it’s clear now that no one in there was familiar to them. They shared one more look again and frowned.

It must’ve been people from the Tokyo teams, then. Or people from Nagano and Hyogo. It’s not like they didn’t know them completely, but it’d be nice if it were people from their home turf.

“Whatever, I’m going in.” Yamagata quietly concluded. “I don’t really wanna roam around again to find another oasis, but this might be the thing we’re looking for.”

“But what if they don’t want to cooperate?” Reon hesitated. “100K is a lot and I can understand if they won’t allow us in.”

“Then we make them cooperate. We’ll take what we have.” Yamagata said as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Reon cracked up a small smile. “Beggars can’t be choosers, right?” Yamagata nodded.

“Yeah… Beggars can’t be ch—“

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

A sudden scream pierced through their eardrums from the opposite of the hallways—directly from the staircase. Yamagata’s eyes darted to a blob of light brown hair wearing the Johzenji track jacket turning to his left and slowly approaching them. The guy didn’t seem to notice the two Shiratorizawa students in the dark as he ran past them without sparing a glance. Another set of footsteps could be heard from the stairs and the voice that came along with it sent chills down their spines.

“HEY HEY HEY!!” _Oh dear God, Bokuto is trailing right behind them._

Wasting no time in line, Reon immediately took Yamagata’s arm again and dragged him inside of the opened room and locked it before the Fukuroudani captain could spot them. He was breathing heavily from the sudden surge of adrenaline and fear of getting caught that Reon collapsed on his back, leaning on the door and sliding to the ground. The outside hitter didn’t realize he was still holding the libero’s arm when Yamagata also crouched on the floor to calm his nerves.

Bokuto’s yells were muffled beyond the door and the Johzenji’s libero’s—Tsuchiyu’s voice sounded like he’s about to pass out from fright. It’s kind of admirable that Bokuto had the power to render everyone terrorized effortlessly like that, Yamagata had to say. He bonded with the second year Tsuchiyu over the same position and Yamagata pitied him for having to go through that as going one on one with the owl would definitely end badly for his part.

The libero patted Reon’s shoulders who slowly becoming more relaxed since their footsteps were steadily getting quieter. This shitty game wasn’t good for people who had a bad heart, goddamn. They stayed on the ground for quite some time until someone cleared their throat.

_Oh yeah. Right._

“Uh, hello there! I guess.” Yamagata gave a poor attempt of a greeting. “Mind if you have two extra people?” he pointed at the door. “As you can see, things are getting messed up outside and we went here to get in our own rooms but remembered that we didn’t have any damn keys with us. It’d be reeeeeally nice if you’d allow us to chill for a bit here with you guys. If you kick us out we will shout _as loud as we can_ so Bokuto would have no choice but to abandon Tsuchiyu—the one he’s currently chasing to come get you guys. So would it be okay if we share?”

Reon shot him an incredulous look. _Really?_ Yamagata didn’t even give them a chance to retort, completely shutting off all of their options and not being civil at all.

The awkward silence was broken by the sound of Komi’s laughter filling the room. He had to put a hand to his mouth to reduce his volume as the person sleeping on the bed squirmed a little from the noise.

“I—” Komi coughed out. “Y-you don’t have to threaten us like that, dude.” The Fukuroudani libero struggled to stop himself from exploding. Another boy gently patted his back and Reon recognized him as Kai, the vice-captain and opposite hitter from Nekoma. “Oh man, holy shit. I can’t believe—”

“Breathe, Komi-kun!” Kai pleaded. “I don’t even know if you’re happy or genuinely surprised to see Yamagata-kun that your brain automatically fried itself, just stay quiet, please?” He pointed to the boy lying on his stomach on the bed. “Fukunaga is sleeping.”

Yamagata blinked. “How in the world could he sleep in a time like this?”

“He jumped right onto the bed the moment we got here.” Kai shrugged. “We got pretty worried when he didn’t get up after a while but we let him be. He probably ran out of energy.”

Sarukui put both hands on his hips, sighing. “Honestly, that guy! If he stopped cracking up jokes when we ran he would’ve lasted longer.” His eyebrows twitched when he noticed the sleeping second year was starting to drool. Kai merely grinned at that. 

“I wish I’m Fukunaga right now. I want to sleep too…” Komi whined. “And that Bokuto too, I swear! Did you hear how loud he yelled? That was scary as shit.”

“I hope that person manages to escape, at the very least…” Kai commented dryly.

“Uh, with Bokuto chasing his tail?” Yamagata snorted. “There’s no way in hell. Tsuchiyu might as well be dead at this point.”

“That’s kind of mean for you to say but I can’t say that you’re wrong…”

Reon could only stay silent looking at the scene. He knew for sure that Yamagata had befriended most liberos in the camp so he won’t be surprised if he got along well with non-liberos too. He didn’t exactly know Sarukui or Fukunaga personally and he only knew a little bit about Komi from Yamagata. The first two simply because they were outside hitters like him, therefore the possibility of them in the same team was quite minimal. He’s had one match with Kai as his teammate and they bonded over the headaches caused by their teammates and that’s it. Their conversation never stretched outside of the court since Kai was always occupied.

He had spent the majority of the camp hanging out with the Sendai team. How did Reon just notice he never made the effort to expand his social circles? He’s also a vice captain, for heaven’s sake.

Reon suppressed a yelp when Sarukui patted his shoulder out of nowhere. “Hey, your name is Oohira-kun, right?” he nodded. “Nice. Where did you put the keys, by the way? Put it on the TV counter, inside the remote case thingy so we won’t lose them in the dark.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Komi perked up. “Even if we’re in a room, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb if we turn on the lights.”

Kai hummed. “The windows, right? Anyone would know where we are from the outside.”

“True. That’s just asking to be killed!” Komi chuckled lightly. Reon shifted uncomfortably by the choice of word but placed the key there wordlessly.

“Also, you guys can stay for as long as you want. It’s not our room but somehow we were able to enter by sheer luck when we’re trying out rooms. First floor is inhabitable so our rooms are out of the picture.” Sarukui said. “Turns out someone forgot to lock their door properly.”

“The key is right inside of the keyhole! The name tag is yellow so I think this is a Johzenji room, one of them must’ve slammed the door close in a rush without double-checking. It opened for us easily!” Komi explained.

“That explains the mess then.” Yamagata remarked. “The Johzenjis are absolute nutjobs.”

“Again, don’t be mean.”

Reon took his time to observe the room and the libero was right. There were dirty clothes and leftover snacks scattered on the floor but surprisingly—he didn’t know if he only imagined it due to the absence of light—a lot of them were text books too. Extremely thick books at that. Why would the Johzenji members bring school text books to the camp? They actually study?

Now that he got his breathing under control, he came to a realization on how _awkward_ it was for him. He didn’t know anyone well enough to be buddy-buddy to each other and Yamagata practically leaving him alone to chat around with Komi didn’t make it better.

Kai was reserved and seemed content to sit on the bed next to Fukunaga, humming songs he wasn’t familiar with and Sarukui was just pacing back and forth behind the closed curtains, occasionally peeking out to see the fields or checking his phone. What was Reon supposed to do by himself then?

He’s not antisocial of course, hell—he’s good with words. But anyone would be overwhelmed if they got thrown in a situation like this. He’s supposed to be the soothing one, dammit. He’s too used of calming his overhyped teammates than calming himself. Did he even know how to do that? It almost _never_ happened as Reon had his shit together. Most of the time, anyway.

“Want me to turn on the bed lamp?” Sarukui’s voice pulled him back to present time and Reon outright squeaked, causing the other three to turn their heads to his direction and Reon wanted to _die_.

“You alright there?” Sarukui asked, leaning closer to the bedside lamp.

“I’m okay.” Reon managed out. “I’m just… tense? I think? Ah, you can turn on the light, I don’t mind.”

Sarukui clicked the lamp buttons and set the light to the minimum. Reon tried not to wince at the sudden brightness entering his peripherals. “And why is that?” Sarukui asked, back facing the others as he look through the nightstand with the help of the dim light.

“Maybe it’s because of the game.” Reon sighed. “I really need to take a break from emotional rollercoasters.”

“That’s not good, Oohira-kun.” Kai frowned. “I can move away from the bed for you to sleep if you want.”

Reon waved his hand dismissively. “No, no, it’s okay. I’m not sleepy. Just need to take my mind off things. Sorry to bother you.”

“We’re only playing a game after all. I hope you don’t end up stressing yourself out because of this, Oohira-kun.” Kai said. Reon gave him a weak nod.

“You’ve been off your game tonight, Reon! Are you sure you’re okay?” Yamagata asked, folding his arms. “Could’ve said so, ya know?”

“If we see Wakatoshi’s face again maybe I’ll be better, but we can’t do that now, can we?” Reon tried to joke and it worked, the Shiratorizawa libero cackled at him and he returned it with a smile. “Goodness, how I want to tell him off about this whole game. Can’t he be more merciful to my weak heart?”

“I could say the same to our Bokuto!” Komi barged in. “I’m pissed at the fact that they’ve probably planned this for weeks and we never realize it _at all._ And he—get this, had the audacity to act all innocent about it by saying ‘props to whoever come up with this game’ like he wasn’t the one who did.”

“Well, probably wasn’t his idea then because I actually can imagine Kuroo coming up with this kind of thing.” Kai said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oikawa and Terushima are also suspects.”

“It’s not Wakatoshi, obviously. He would definitely suggest a cooking show or something along the lines.” Yamagata snickered.

“So it’s settled. It’s between Oikawa, Kuroo and Terushima, what if we just beat them up and rob their money for it ‘cause despite everything, I still don’t have the heart to mug Bokuto.” Sarukui concluded and Komi laughed again with a low “You’re not wrong.”

Reon let out a soft laugh as well, thinking that if it turned out that his own captain was the one who proposed the game, he also wouldn’t be able to protest to his unassuming face. He’s most likely to be swept by everyone else who was on board with it.

There’s no way, Ushijima Wakatoshi, would be the one who’d suggest such a thing.

“But…” Reon groaned before he could stop himself. “If only they picked a better game…”

“Yeah, this game is only fun for the demons! Bokuto sounded like he’s having way too much fun chasing our asses.” Komi spat.

“Wanna try a different kind of game, then?”

The trio’s eyes went to the item Sarukui pulled out from the nightstand—a large box of a certain familiar board game. Reon squinted to read the cover of the board in an attempt to read the big bold letters in the darkness.

Everyone, especially Komi and Yamagata, all gasped in disbelief.

_It’s a fucking Monopoly._

“Let’s lighten up a bit!”

* * *

**[LOCATION: Athlete Village 1F South Lounge]**

“This is stupid. This is stupid _. I don't wanna do this_ ,” Tsukishima muttered under his breath with a hint of anxiety as he went around from the back entrance to the get in first floor lounge. “I don’t want to _fucking_ do this.” Twisting the door shut behind him, he stared at his surroundings for a while before adding just as quietly, “Shit. This place is a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be.”

The middle blocker had never fully explored the building he’s currently in. He only went with Yamaguchi as far to the second floor rooms Karasuno was assigned to stay in and the gardens near SAKURA Dining. He never went beyond that, he had never felt the need to. Never really cared too—but now he had to deal with the consequences as he didn’t know where the hell he was. Tsukishima had been in the Main lounge but it’s just because that’s where everyone usually went in and out of the building. He figured if they’re only had to be there for a week, he didn’t have to memorize the entire National Training Camp grounds because fuck that.

He managed to slither his way out from the Nekoma and Fukuroudani captains just an hour ago. The blond went on a search to find his childhood best friend in the middle of screaming children at the fields but found no one. Well, not exactly ‘no one’, he just didn’t see anyone he liked to be with. He ran past the Aobajohsai, Nekoma and Inarizaki groups in his runaway and thought maybe he could find Kunimi, Kenma or even Suna to team up with him. Not saying that they’re _friends_ , but he knew the trio enough from constantly ditching the crowd to vibe near the quiet gardens.

After witnessing the walking disaster Oikawa Tooru on a killing spree, he decided to not come anywhere near them.

The silence was quite unnerving. The middle blocker surveyed the entirety of the room while straining his ears for… anything. Like footsteps or voices. He did hear screaming from time to time but that wasn’t comforting. Things like this didn’t usually bother him, hell—he usually strived for the suffering of others—now that he’s on the receiving end of this bullshit so he couldn’t quite enjoy it. There wasn’t much to enjoy to begin with.

Once he heard a set of rapid footsteps coming from the room behind him, Tsukishima straightened his back and finally looked around to secure a hiding spot. The room only had a few office chairs, couches and sofas with plenty of tables, _extremely_ short tables for a person as tall as Tsukishima. He had to say that the couches they have were larger than he’s used to see.

The most logical thing to do was to crouch down since the table was all covered unlike the ones in cafeteria.

Tsukishima sat on his knees to duck under it but his head wouldn’t even fit inside. He could try to lie down sideways to make room for his upper body but he also had to mind his long legs peeking out of the damn table. Not to mention he’s wearing considerably bright mustard-colored pants from Yamaguchi after Koganegawa accidentally spilled his soup to his crotch barely 7 hours ago. Tsukishima took Yamaguchis’s as he didn’t trust anyone else’s clothes to be as clean and the two usually wear each other’s clothes a lot so it was fine. Koganegawa got a clean hit to his side from Futakuchi too so that’s a bonus.

“ _Damn it_.” The tables deemed useless so now what? There’s really nothing else in the room to hide, nothing solid anyway. He took another chance to focus on finding a place again but the person behind the door was a pace quicker than him. The middle blocker stood frozen in place when he knew who it was.

It was none other than Bokuto Koutarou, still wearing the same dumb expression from the last time he saw him.

The two had staring match for a couple of seconds before Tsukishima realized the demon’s eyes weren’t exactly on his. Did he not know it’s him? Not in the darkness he didn’t. Tsukishima still a bit far from the doorway but if Bokuto got closer to him it’ll be over in an instant.

Completely taken over by half-assed dread, Tsukishima instinctively dropped behind the nearest couch and the sudden movements caught Bokuto off guard.

“Is someone there?!” he yelled out. _And shit, he’s walking towards him._

Tsukishima could’ve just let Bokuto tag him out. He’d much rather sit this one out and go to bed earlier. There’s the tiniest part of him shouting to give up, explaining that this shit wasn’t worth all the work. Then again if he did, he wouldn’t be able to sleep with constant screams echoing through the walls and there’s no way he’s going to succumb to Bokuto and/or Kuroo easily. Not in a million years.

“Hello?” Bokuto tried again. Now only 3 big steps away from the couch Tsukishima was hiding. “I saw you going there, y’know! I can’t see anything in the dark but I know a sneaky player when I see one!”

He’s completely, utterly and most definitely fucked. Not knowing what to do, Tsukishima’s focus went to the slight breeze he felt in his hands only to notice something beneath the couch. He hated the idea that sparked from it.

“I’m giving you 10 seconds to surrender yourself. It’s easier that way, whoever you are!” Bokuto nonchalantly said. “One…” he took a step closer. “Two…” Another step. “Three…” He grabbed onto the couch armrest before quickly leaping to the back of the couch, chuckling. “I lied! I got you now—Huh?”

The Fukuroudani captain didn’t need light to tell that there’s no one there. Even so, he needed a moment to process what he just witnessed. There was someone hiding behind one of the biggest couches in the room, and they had magically disappeared like they weren’t there in the first place.

He was motionless for a while as he gawked, turning his head to left and right multiple times in confusion. Tsukishima heard him let out the softest “what the fuck” and he had to hold back a gasp upon hearing it. The word sounded so foreign coming from Bokuto’s mouth but Tsukishima managed to stay quiet.

Who would’ve thought the beanpole Tsukishima Kei could fit under the fucking couch. His shoulders were wide but way too thin and he didn’t have big chest muscles like Bokuto, Kiryuu or Ushiijima. Not that he’s complaining. It helped him, didn’t it?

Tsukishima’s ears twitch from the sound of Bokuto unlocking his phone and dialed someone. The middle blocker took notes that his footsteps were also slowly fading and getting further away from the godforsaken couch.

“Dude, please tell everyone the Athlete Village is haunted!” Bokuto warned, voice shaking. "I swear I heard something behind the couch but when I checked, nothing’s there! Do you think someone died there?”

Kuroo’s maniacal laughter could be heard from the other side of the line.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not! For example, dying on the couch is quite common! What if they want my head on a stick? Did I somehow anger the ghost or something?!”

“Common—what the hell are you on?” Kuroo sounded genuinely concerned. “Like what, crushed by their own weight from sitting too comfortably?”

“Probably! You don’t know that! I remember reading some articles that said we’re more likely to be killed by our own furniture than killed by a terrorist!”

“Bro, I love you, but I’m still failing to understand how dying on the couch is a common occurrence and your tone right now actually scares me.”

“REALLY?! DO I SOUND SCARY?! Have I finally gotten a hold of this demon thing?!”

“Holy— Don’t bust my eardrums!”

Tsukishima felt a hint of relief as the demon made his way out of the room, still looking utterly dumbfounded. He was called stupid names before, but a _ghost_ was not one of them. Of course Bokuto would come to that conclusion and Kuroo was most likely just humoring him. Tsukishima was thankful the white haired captain didn’t think to check under the couch because they’re all athletes, who could’ve fit under an innocent couch? Even Tsukishima himself wasn’t sure how he did it.

Just when he’s about to crawl out, a sudden shuffling noise stopped him from moving. It sounded like soft clothes frictions making contact with a particularly hard surface. Tsukishima wouldn’t think about it too much because it’s probably just his own clothes making strange noises as the backside of his jacket was ruined by grazing the carpeted floor. Or it was simply just his imagination.

He jolted the moment the noises started again. He decided to stay put and figuring out what the hell that noise was. He’s not going anywhere yet. Don’t tell him Bokuto was right about that? No, surely it’s impossible?

Why did it sound so loud? Where did it come fr—

_Up?_

Tsukishima was met with another pair of eyes peeking from the upper part of the couch.

“Ah, it’s Mr. Vanilla! You didn’t die after all.”

Tsukishima wanted to scream but he knew he couldn’t.

“Good job tricking him there! I didn’t expect you to pull that, although I should’ve.”

Tsukishima figured if he actually wanted to win, he would need to pair up someone who’s dependable and someone who could go complete silent upon order would also be preferable. Yamaguchi was his best choice but he didn’t even come across with anyone in Karasuno during his escapades. He didn’t see anyone in his Tolerable List throughout the run too.

“Bokuto would totally fall for that kind of thing. And God, you have absolutely NO idea how spacious couches actually are!”

Out of all people he could’ve met instead, why must it be Tendou- _fucking_ -Satori?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> Kai: doesn't monopoly ruin friendships  
> Sarukui:  
> Sarukui:  
> Sarukui: anyways,
> 
> \- HELLO I love anxious old man Oohira Reon. please give him more love I beg,,, We love a calm and soothing Reon who saves the day but I want to try writing him like this for once and hey, Nekoma/Fukuroudani/Shiratorizawa alliance with unlikely people!  
> \- Dying on a couch is actually a common occurrence. Heart attacks don't care where you are currently.  
> \- Alsooo I'm not talking about those regular sized couches, but I mean the one who has bigger space under the couch/sofa because I've seen one before and if even I could fit, Tsukki would lmao
> 
> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) | [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/)


	5. 5 Common Misconceptions About Selling Your Friends' Souls to The Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up with the Nohebi third years.
> 
> [8 PM - part III]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> A bit shorter than I intended, but enjoy!

* * *

**8** **PM [** **11** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS: 1** **74** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: West Indoor Training Center B1 - Exclusive-use Facilities, Boxing]**

  
“Numai, your phone is ringing.” Sakishima called out. The freckled teen pointed at Numai's pocket that's been vibrating for a while from the ringtone. “Aren't you gonna answer that?”

“Nope, better turn it off!” Hiroo demanded. “Lower the volume too, phones are just asking for trouble in a situation like this.”

 _He's right._ The three Nohebi third years had barely managed to slip past the clutter of crowd from the entranceway to get to the basement, they sure as hell wouldn't let a single phone call throw their hiding spot away.

The training hall had 2 official-size boxing rings and was full of fitness equipment and any necessities for the said sport. The room didn't look big on itself as the boxing rings had taken ¾ of the space but it'd be a quality-hiding spot from the demons because now they had a lot of things to cover themselves. Their only problem was the light, if there were plenty equipment lying on the ground as they made their way through and tripped over it, it'll be the end of the line for them. Even though they'd gone to stay the deepest part of the basement, the three of them could still hear the screams coming from upstairs-especially the first and second floors since the others were still trying to run away despite the game had been going on for almost 1 and half hour already.

Numai clumsily pulled out the phone from his pant pocket to check out who was calling him. He would never shut a call from his parents or sister because he'd face their wrath when he got home so Numai would just give them a short explanation as to why he couldn't talk and that's it. If it was anyone else, he couldn't care less about what they had to say.

And that 'anyone' most certainly included _Daishou_.

The Nohebi ace frowned at the caller ID on his phone screen—a selfie of his shitty captain and Yamaka Mika staring back at him. Numai made the right decision to name Daishou's contact to ' _bitch_ ' in all capital words and a snake emoji beside it, because the latter deserved it after all he had done to them in the last couple of hours. Numai hit the blaring red decline button without a word and returned the phone inside his pocket. Hiroo and Sakishima gave him questioning looks but decided that the call was nothing important.

Seconds after he slid his phone back, the damn ringtone chimed out again, the sound catching him by surprise and causing him to instinctively reach into his pocket—only to find out it was the same person calling his number. The ace’s thumb shifted to click the red button one more time and Hiroo was pretty sure Numai had cracked his phone just by tapping the screen alone. He didn't bother to completely turn off his phone because Numai Kazuma's mother used to call him in ungodly hours and if he didn't answer her—she'd call the fucking _cops_. It had happened once in the training camp in his first year of middle school where he forgot to charge his phone. The ace's mother got so worried she involved the entire subdistrict to start a missing person investigation. Numai was greatly embarrassed by the stunt and told her to call his coaches instead if he didn't answer. No one knew about his borderline insane mom almost filing a report besides Daishou himself since they live in the same neighborhood.

People said that the third time was the charm, but the third time Numai's phone had rang that night left him absolutely fuming and nowhere near lucky at all. He gripped his iPhone almost too tight and ready to break it in half but Sakishima was faster than him.

“Hey, Numai!” Sakishima tried to reach out for him before the ace exploded and potentially blew their cover, “Who the hell even is that? Just shut down your phone if you don't want to answer them THAT badly!”

“Or just block them for the time being.” Hiroo added. “There's no time to talk anyway.”

Numai shook his head. “No, it's just...” He finally loosened his hold and put up the phone to his two friends so they could read the caller ID. “ _Hi_ _m_.”

They didn't have to look at the profile picture to understand, the name _bitch_ itself already gave them too many hints on the identity of the caller.

Hiroo’s glower became a frown. “Yikes.”

“I know right.”

The phone was still ringing, and the three of them knew all too well of their captain's tendencies of not giving up, even if it's about the most trivial things you could imagine. Daishou's determination could be very admirable on court but he became annoying if that trait of his come anywhere near day to day life. It's not determination at this point, just downright stubbornness.

“So, what to do? If you're going to ignore the phone call all together, just put your phone on silent.” Sakishima pointed to the ringing phone.

“True, if you're not planning to turn it off because I know you don't want to.” Hiroo offered.

Numai clicked the decline button again before taking a deep breath. “Yeah. But if I just put my phone on silent, my battery will be dead in a few damn minutes. You know how shitty iPhones' batteries are.”

“Okay privileged, noted.” Hiroo's sarcastic remark was met with a disgusted look from their ace and he put his hands up in defiance. “You're the only one who has an iPhone! Us common folks have androids and even _Kuguri_ has a personified and all fancy flip phone! It’s so unfair.”

Sakishima raised his eyebrows. “Is that why you pushed Kuguri off his feet at the start? Any tragic backstory you want to share with us, Hiroo?” He shot back.

“Noooooot exactly...” the middle blocker trailed off, shifting uncomfortably. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.” Now the two gave him the most judging looks Hiroo had ever seen. The black haired teen made a face and folded his arms to his chest. “Look, I didn't have a choice! Kuguri was right next to that Karasuno captain and don’t lie to me that you totally would do the same thing if you’re in my shoes.”

“Not me, and definitely not the all righteous Numai himself.” Sakishima corrected. Numai just weakly shrugged at the attention because the setter wasn’t wrong.

“Dude, you totally would! That sounds like something that you would do too!” Hiroo wailed and Numai could almost see the despair in his eyes, _almost_. The remaining two shared an incredulous look. “Please don’t do this to me. Push the guilt onto me and I might have to report you for a serious case of Hiroo Koji Abuse. It’s too early for that.”

“It’s never too early for Hiroo Koji Abuse.” The freckled teen scooted over to playfully flick Hiroo’s forehead with his finger and the middle blocker let out and audible yelp.

“What was that for?!”

“That’s for killing Kuguri!”

“You made it sound like it’s a big deal, Sakishima! In my defense, I don’t even think Kuguri would enjoy the rest of the night, this doesn’t seem like his type of game.” Hiroo countered. “And don’t think that no one saw you tripping over that Numajiri guy from Johzenji. You’re just as slimy!”

Sakishima put his hands on his hips, clearly offended. “At least I didn’t throw my own teammates under the bus like that!”

Numai shook his head in disappointment. It was rare to see Hiroo getting worked up when the setter was obviously just messing with him. If even the ever sardonic middle blocker got anxious and uneasy like this, then the game also got on his nerves. Besides Numai, Hiroo was usually the most rational one out of a bunch of crafty teenagers they called a team. Seeing him being the childish one didn’t seem right and Sakishima’s teasing didn’t help either.

The ace sighed. Numai should stop their banter before their voices got too loud. He held up a hand. “Guys, please. What if we just—“

His intervention was interrupted by a noise coming from Sakishima’s phone. The setter’s embarrassing Big Time Rush ringtone filled the entire room with the volume at its top. “Shit!”

“Ha! You told him to put in silent but your phone is the one screaming.” Hiroo scoffed, looking proud.

“Oh, shut up.” Sakishima lowered the volume and flipped the phone open to see the caller ID, to see the same thing on Numai’s phone—a picture of Daishou and Mika on their date. He clicked his tongue and shoved his phone for his friends to see.

Hiroo’s eyebrows furrowed. “ _Again_?”

“Yes, again.” Sakishima confirmed.

Numai sighed for god how many times in that single night. It appeared that Daishou had given up calling him and decided to call the other, hoping for a response that Numai wasn’t sure what. They spent a moment in silence with the faint song taking over the room and their minds. After a few seconds of nothingness, Sakishima finally made the decision to turn off his phone altogether.

“Does any one of you have any idea what the _hell_ Daishou wants?” the setter asked.

“Look at my face.” Hiroo pointed at his own. “Do I look like I care?”

Sakishima smacked the back of Hiroo’s head for the totally helpful response. “Fuck it, I’m turning off my phone. I don’t want to listen to his voice right now, not after he betrayed us like that. And did you,” he flailed his free hand in front of his chest animatedly, “see the way the bastard was laughing his ass off when he tagged out Akama and Takachiho! We’re taking his money he made off this shit, that’s for sure.”

“Hell yeah we’re taking his shit. Can’t let him get away with it!” Hiroo replied, folding his arms again. “He probably called to rub his victories on our faces.”

Numai considered for a second. Sure, Daishou Suguru was obsessed with winning and would do whatever it takes if it’s for the sake of being called number one. But all those years knowing Suguru, he remembered there was never the time when he tried to deliberately sell his friends and win alone—Daishou always offered to join whenever he had an idea even if it’s the most malevolent thing he could come up with. The Nohebi captain might be an asshole, but he knew where to draw the line.

He gave it a chance to look up his own messages and saw at least twenty texts from the latter. His frown grew deeper as he clicked to read through the last few messages from the spam.

**BITCH🐍:** numai, where are you?  
**BITCH🐍:** numai kazuma  
**BITCH🐍:** are you in one of the buildings or are you camping outside?  
**BITCH🐍:** numaii  
**BITCH🐍:** iiii  
**BITCH🐍:** iiiiii

**_2 miss calls from BITCH🐍_**

**BITCH🐍:** motherfucker you did not just decline my fucking phone call  
**BITCH🐍:** jhey  
**BITCH🐍:** *Hey  
**BITCH🐍:** Where are you and the others?  
**BITCH🐍:** oi

**_1 miss call from BITCH🐍_**

**BITCH🐍:** ANSWER MY CALLS  
**BITCH🐍:** FUCKING ANSWER I KNOW YOU SAW THE NOTIFICATION  
**BITCH🐍:** DICKWAD

Oh, how much he wanted to screenshot the whole conversation section and forwarded it to Mika. She probably already knew about Daishou’s rotten personality (the reason why they got back together despite everything anyway) but he was sure that the girl would still enjoy reading whatever the hell her boyfriend was up to. Instead he just replied with a simple question mark to the captain. He almost dropped the phone at the instant reply.

**Kazuma:** ?  
**BITCH🐍:** OH  
**BITCH🐍:** FUCKING FINALLY  
**BITCH🐍:** Where are you?  
**BITCH🐍:** no wait just call me back  
**Kazuma:** u sound like a desperate newly divorced middle age woman if u haven’t noticed  
**BITCH🐍:** HEY  
**BITCH🐍:** smh just fucking call me  
**BITCH🐍:** deadass  
**BITCH🐍:** It’s for your own benefit too

Numai raised his eyebrows after reading the last message.

**Kazuma:** What the hell does that mean?

**_BITCH🐍 is calling…_ **

He could see Hiroo’s face scrunched up into an even deeper frown listening to another ringtone. Numai thought if he could give Daishou a piece of his mind this one time, the whole game would be easier to go through the night. The ace picked up the call before the middle blocker could say anything.

“You have 3 seconds before I click the block button. Now speak.”

Daishou was chuckling in a hushed voice from the other side of the phone. “How stingy, not even 5 seconds? You're killing me Numai, you're killing your captain.”

“Oh fuck off. What the hell do you want, traitor?”

He didn't want anything to do with Daishou right now. Not after tagging out more than half of the first years before his eyes while grinning like a fucking _bitch_ he was. Both Sakishima and Hiroo shifted closer to where he was sitting to listen in as there’s no way they’re brave enough to put it on speaker.

“Aw, don’t be like that. I have no other choice than to do this and you know it.” Numai noticed that the Nohebi captain was whispering. He figured they couldn’t give away their presence easily as demons, a lot like how the players would do to them too. “I just wanted to ask where you and the team are currently hiding and how many is left. And before you say anything, no, I swear this is not a trick question to trap your asses. It’s a legitimate question, simply out of curiosity.”

“There’s no “out of curiosity” when it comes to you, bitch.” Hiroo growled from Numai’s left side. The setter smacked the middle blocker’s head the second time that night and gestured him to keep quiet. Unfortunately he was too late as Daishou already heard Hiroo’s voice and Sakishima’s hushing as clear as day.

“Oh shit, is that Hiroo… and Sakishima? So you three are together all this time.” Daishou guessed.

Numai took a deep breath before answering. “Yeah, these two disasters are with me. I won’t answer your first questions because fuck that, I’m not spitting out our location to anyone, especially not to you!”

“Don’t be like that! I’m not plotting against you guys, I swear to Mika-chan, God, and everything holy.” Daishou gave a light chuckle, entertained by their attitude towards him. “I’ll make this quick, you gotta tell me where and how many members in Nohebi who are still up and running. I…” the captain paused. “Listen, no one’s with me right now so it’s fine to tell me. I want to know you guys’ locations and statuses if you could from this point on, as it’ll be useful for me to divert the other demons away from where you are now. So it will be easier for you guys to hide to the places where there are no demons looking to catch your asses. If you want my help, that is.”

Numai’s eyes widened. He spent a few seconds to regain himself and asked more instead of answering his captain’s initial question, “Are you—so you’re saying you’re against the demons? What?”

“Not quite.” Daishou corrected. “I’m still going to run off trying to tag everyone else, but not _you guys._ You get me?”

The middle blocker narrowed his eyes. “You’re allowed to do that?”

Daishou shrugged from where he was standing, not realizing that no one could see him. “It’s not on the rules.”

It was proven from Hiroo’s face that he’s completely on board with the idea if the sudden fist in the air wasn’t a big enough hint when he found out his captain didn't have any bad intentions. Meanwhile Sakishima was still considering. That was such a Daishou move to pull and Numai should’ve expected that was the call all about.

Daishou Suguru was always good at finding a loophole in everything, so his doing wasn’t the most shocking thing in the world. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if it counted as cheating. Even if it wasn’t, it still felt wrong for them to do it.

“Hellooo?” Daishou called out. “You there? Shocked by the surprise help from your savior, perhaps? I know, I know.”

“Shut the hell up.” Numai deadpanned. “I have Hiroo and Sakishima with me but how the fuck would I know where the rest of them are?”

“Wh—how come you don’t? You were with literally everyone!”

“Most of us are already out and got separated because of Sawamura and _you!_ And surely you don’t think we could have more than 10 or so people in a cramped room without getting caught? Unbelievable.”

“Well I don’t know—thought you’re smart enough to figure shit out.” Daishou defended before trying again, “You really don’t know?”

“You have that fancy monitor tablet and gloves thing, I'm just a plain peasant!” Numai recalled the square item some of the demons were all carrying. The ace didn’t know what the hell that thing was for but everything involving his captain, including the rest of the captains in this occasion, is suspicious and he’s not taking chances.

Daishou snarled and took a loud inhale and lashed out, “These tablets can only monitor how many active bracelets, not the owner! The managers have the captured list but they're busy at the moment so I can’t bother them with this kind of shit. If you tell me where you guys are, I swear I won't tag anyone again from our school—I had to go all out in the beginning since everyone was looking and I’m not begging for forgiveness because fuck that. We don't get any money for the club funds if someone actually won and I didn't get to catch that many people anyway, so I want that _someone_ to be one of us.”

The captain finished in one breath before taking another, “I’m just going to tell the three of you that all demons have specific places to standby but they’re still free to look elsewhere. I’m currently in the Sports Science first floor. I’m… _paired_ with that damned rooster head but he went out a bit to check on that Inarizaki captain.” Numai could hear the sound of paper rustling. “The West indoor building has Ushijima, Sawamura, Iizuna and Oikawa,” Daishou read carefully, “Bokuto and Kiryuu are in Athlete Village, Suwa and Kita are keeping a lookout in the outdoors and any other fields. I’m going to text this to you if your birdbrains for some reason can’t remember. East building is empty at the moment but I heard from Iizuna it’ll stay that way till midnight… But you know what? Please don’t go there at all—if that Nekoma shithead saw three defenseless Nohebi students out in the open, he would catch you in a heartbeat. It’s too far anyway from the fields anyway, not to mention you have to cross the road to get there so don’t even bother.” He trailed off before adding, “Wait, you’re not in the East building _now_ , right?”

“No… We aren’t.” Sakishima’s voice was soft in bafflement. “We’re in basement of the West building, boxing area.”

“Oh, that’s a good hiding spot, I guess. Pretty secure.” Daishou commented. “But the West building is the most crowded place since basically everyone went there, not to mention you have four demons on your throats.” he snorted at the sound of Hiroo clicking his tongue. “Just stay down there for a few hours and you’ll be alright. I’ll need you to update your locations every time you decide to move, capiche?”

Numai needed a moment to process the sudden word vomit. That was definitely the Daishou Suguru he knew. The Nohebi’s number 1 got all bossy if he had a solid plan, assuring everyone that his way was the best, which turned out to be absolutely great on their part most of the time. Daishou knew what he was doing, and he knew how to get what he wanted. That’s just how he was.

This plan was the cleanest one compared to any other schemes Daishou had proposed as he didn’t technically violate anything—but goddamn if the ace wasn’t going to indulge him, just this once.

“Sure.” Numai finally answered and earned a shocked look from the other present third years including Daishou from the other side of the line. Hiroo whispered an approving “yes” and Sakishima’s tired but fond gruff were enough for him to tell they’re on it too, albeit reluctantly for the setter’s part.

“For real? I mean—“ Daishou choked, struggling to find his words. “Of course I knew you’re going to say yes, but what the fuck?”

“I just know we’re not getting into any deeper shit with you in question.”

“ _Excuse you?!_ ” the ace moved his phone away from his ear just in time before his eardrums explode. “Gosh, you’re so annoying. I’m doing this for your own good, damn it.”

“Pfft. Sure you do.” Hiroo mocked.

“Shut up for a sec,” Daishou quickly retorted before his patience was running thin. “So do you really want to cooperate or not? I expect constant updates, you know.”

“Like I said, sure, I don’t care. I don’t think we’re going out either way anytime soon.” Numai agreed and it seemed like the captain was more than satisfied with the answer.

“Good. I want that fucking money and I’ll make sure you guys are getting it as well. More than half of it is going be mine and Mika-chan’s, of course.”

“You're fucking filthy.”

“Geez, tell me what I _don't_ know.” Daishou shot back. “It's not in the rules to let the players go but we're still not allowed to tell you anything about the other game mechanics, so you guys better win this shit. I’m gonna return to that Nekoma captain and text the others about my plan.”

Numai’s thought was stopped in a stunned silence. “Wait—the other _what_?”

“Eh, forget it. Please just fucking win.”  
  


The line cut off before Numai could question the captain. _That can’t be good._

Even with the inside help from their captain, Numai knew it still won’t be an easy. Then again, nothing was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> Next up: A wild Yaku Morisuke suffering alone ft. a group of first years!
> 
> (What do you think of the story so far? Not to sound vain but in all honesty feedbacks really do fuel me so comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!)
> 
> >> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya next week!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) | [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/)


	6. They’re Like, Totally Confused Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yaku Morisuke and His Terrible Life Decisions.
> 
> [9 PM - part I]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE IT INTO A 7K CHAPTER HAHSGDJSDK ENJOY I GUESS????????????? ALSO EP 20 KILLED ME ON THE SPOT SO I CAN'T HELP BUT THROWING KITA IN THIS FIC A LIL EARLY HAHA

* * *

**9** **PM [** **10** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS:** **166** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: JISS 1F – Main Entrance]**

“Hey, Jackass.”

No response.

“Are you ignoring me now?”

All he got was a noncommittal hum.

“Who was that? Who the fuck did you call?”

Daishou grunted, typing on his phone.

“Hello? Earth to Daishou?”

His typing became louder.

“Are you there? You’re glaring. Should I call a snake charmer to soothe your reptilian needs?”

“No, I’m not.” Daishou glared at his phone and didn’t bother to look at Kuroo. “Also shut your mouth for a second, I still need to text someone.”

Kuroo leaned closer and tiptoed to try to peek on Daishou’s screen. The Nohebi captain smacked his chin before he could come any closer. Their 10 centimeters difference made it easier for Daishou to do so.

“Ow! The fuck was that for?!” Kuroo went to grab the top of Daishou’s head and tried to yank it. The shorter male returned with clawing the Nekoma captain’s cheek with his free hand while trying to continue typing. “I’m just asking what you’re up to!”

“Yeah, and I don’t want to answer it!” Daishou had typed what he could on the phone and sent it without reading it over. He hoped Seguro would understand his message through the gibberish.

“Is that Mika-chan? Or Numai-kun? Hmmm?” Kuroo taunted. He used his other hand to take Daishou’s phone but Daishou was quick to slap his hand away. “We have things to do, y’know! I’m telling Kita and Sawamura you’re slacking off to text your girlfriend and your other boyfriend! They’re gonna cut your salary in half!”

Daishou’s face flushed at Kuroo’s accusation. “Excuse me?! Numai is just a friend and everyone knows that!” He switched his phone off and slid it inside his pocket. “The fact that you technically said I could have two significant others at once makes me think that you thought very highly of me! You have anything to say for that, rooster bastard?!”

“What the fuck?” It was Kuroo’s turn to be flustered involuntary and held Daishou’s shirt. “As if! If anything, you would be two-timing them! Who the hell wants to be with an asshole like you anyway!?”

“I don’t know, any sensible person with good taste, maybe?” Daishou bit back. It earned a pinch from Kuroo to his sides and he yelped. The black haired male didn’t hold back his laughter. Realizing the distance between them, Daishou made an attempt to kick Kuroo’s groin but his swing didn’t quite reach him. His feet landed on Kuroo’s and while his first plan didn’t work, Daishou smirked at Kuroo’s pained expression.

The moment they’re about to headbutt against each other again, someone clapped their hands once. They stopped immediately and turned to the source of the sound and their expression shifted into a frown.

“What do ye think yer doin’?” It was the one and only Kita Shinsuke, standing halfway inside the Sports Science building. He still looked menacing despite wearing his ridiculous fox patterned sweater (very out of character of him, but they’re too scared of Kita to even try to say it out loud).

Kuroo had no idea how the he did that. He didn’t even know why he’s so scared of the Inarizaki captain in the first place. He’s been in multiple matches in the same team as Kita before and while Kuroo understood why he’s respected by most, he had no clue why his authoritative aura got to him as well when he’s the same exact age as the gray haired male. He’s like Yaku in a way, but the difference was Kuroo was already used to Yaku’s way of strictness.

Daishou on the other hand, felt close to neutral. He didn’t know Kita personally (he had 2-3 matches with the guy), he knew Kita would be one of those guys he just wouldn’t be able to read. Daishou knew all too well that Kita was the kind of person that he didn’t want to be his enemy so he’s been playing nice to him ever since. Going so far to the point he dwindle his tricks in some matches with Kita to not upset him, because God knew how scary the male was when annoyed.

“Why, hello Kita-kun! How are you, man?” Kuroo called him first and headed closer to the Inarizaki captain with the most innocent grin he could muster.

“We just talked a few minutes ago, Kuroo-kun. It’s barely 9 o’clock, why are ye two screamin’? Suwa-kun and I were walkin’ around the West training center and we could hear yer incoherent shouts.” Kita eyed them critically. “Care to explain?”

Daishou let out a made up gasp. “There’s no way! Someone is screaming, in this lovely and beautiful evening?” Kuroo scoffed at him who decided to play along. “Who dares to disturb the peacefulness of this holy ground?”

“What he said.” Kuroo nodded. “Why would anyone do that? So heartless.”

Kita gave them a doubtful look but he brushes it off and sighed. “I don’t get why ye two kept denyin’ that ye actually get along. Yer like Matsukawa-kun and Hanamaki-kun, but more hostile. They’re funny and less harmful than ye two, to say the least.”

“You must be joking!” Kuroo and Daishou yelled at the same time and glared at perfect sync. Kita showed them a fond smile.

“And the Atsumu and Osamu too.”

The duo groaned with such exaggeration that it’s nearly comical.

“No, this is not happening. I didn’t sign up to be compared with the most god awful duos there is.” Daishou shook his head.

“Then focus on yer tasks, preferably with less screamin’ at each other too.” Kita shot back. “I don’t have any rights to comment on yer work ethics but keep it to yerself, will ya?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. We’ll be quiet right, Daishou-kun?” Kuroo teased and patted Daishou’s shoulder.

Daishou fought the urge the punch the hand off his shoulder but smiled instead in front of Kita. “Yep! Less noise pollution and more man-hunting. Got it.”

“Good. I’ll head back to Suwa-kun. If anyone we’re chasin’ end up going inside the Sports Science building, ya know what to do.”

The duo nodded and watched as Kita returned to Suwa. A minute passed in absolute silence.

Daishou took a deep breath and gestured Kuroo to follow him. “Let’s get this shit started. No more fighting in Kita’s hearing range.”

“Oh, so you’re leading me to somewhere private? That’s so scandalous, Daishou-kun.” Kuroo put both hands on his own cheeks. “At least let me prepare myself first.”

“You’re an idiot. I’m taken.”

“Hah! Bold of you to assume I want anything to do with you.”

“Then shut the fuck up, god, you’re so annoying.”

“Freedom of speech exists!”

“Everything that comes out of your mouth is a hate crime towards _me_.”

“Congrats, you’re the last person to know.”

“I can and will file a police report on you for this.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I definitely would.”

“The second you step in the office everyone will be tackling you since you’re in their wanted list.”

“At least I’m wanted by people. You could rot in a garbage dump for all I care.”

“You hurt my feelings!”

“Well oh—I don’t care.”

“Brat.”

“Jerk.”

It’s merely a regular Saturday for them. They’ll live on like this, don’t even worry about it.

Daishou led them to scan the first floor, from the main entrance to the longue, from the longue to the small indoor tennis area. They ended up finding four Kamomedai and Itachiyama first years behind the curtains, both of them tagging two. Kuroo almost pitied them because they could see their silhouettes with the smallest light from outside. The first years did a good job for surviving for 2 two full hours, but being good wasn’t enough to win. They had to give their all if they wanted to get their hands on that money. The demons were the same.

The whole “one person for 200 yen for the club funds” thing was just a luring technique from the coaches to keep the captains going for the game. In actuality, they’re free to do anything with the money and it’s not limited for their teams’ needs. Meanwhile, for well-known schools like Mujinazaka, Itachiyama, Shiratorizawa, Inarizaki and Fukuroudani that had shitload of club funding, Kiryuu and Ushijima had been quite motivated to play the game, Kita having his own goals with the pocket money, and Bokuto and Iizuna were just happy to be there.

Schools like Karasuno and Johzenji that weren’t exactly lucky with finances had a dilemma. Sawamura was already set on saving the money he’s getting for their team funds while the Johzenji’s motives remained unknown. Kuroo had to give it to the Karasuno captain for the selflessness.

Still. If someone won the 100K grand prize, the demons won’t get the money from the players they’d tagged. They had to catch them all or get absolutely _nothing_.

That also worked as a booster to make it till morning. Kuroo remembered Oikawa mentioned that he wanted to restock his skincare sets with the money he’ll get and Suwa and Iizuna wanting a new pair of volleyball sneakers. Shoes seemed to be in a common wish list for everyone involved since numerous of captured players had screamed shoe brands right before they’re disqualified. It was kind of hilarious.

Despite their well-funded schools, Ushijima and Kiryuu were planning to use the money for the team like Sawamura. Kiryuu thought it was unfair for him to use all the money for himself and Ushijima—not knowing that his school was on par with a 5 star hotel and had millions to spare, decided to use them for the team as well. Kuroo didn’t have any physical item in mind that he wanted to buy, but it’ll be nice to treat the whole team barbeque or buy Kenma a game or two. Both were good ideas and he’s going to leave it to future Kuroo to decide. And Daishou really wanted to have a fancy dinner date with Mika in their last year in High school as a couple. When the Nohebi captain announced it proudly in their meeting last night, he was met with cheers and some gagging noises (the loudest ones were Kuroo’s).

The rest of the captains didn’t have any interesting things to buy, except maybe a hundred packs of sour gummies, renting an entire amusement park for a day and some odd colored sewing kits for a family member. They’re determined to get what they wanted for sure.

Kuroo and Daishou walked from the lounge to the northern side of the building and arrived to the sports cafeteria. It’s third biggest room after the indoor gym and the training room in the third floor. The captains silently checked behind the counters and to hear if there are any abnormalities—like misplaced items.

“Do you think we should split up?” Daishou asked, his hands were still busy moving the curtains.

“Since when do you care about my opinion?” Kuroo replied before he could stop his own mouth.

Daishou scrunched his face in disgust. “Fucking cooperate. We haven’t gone upstairs yet and this building has 3 floors in total…”

“The second floor is the largest, yeah? But with less rooms.” Kuroo pointed out. “I remember they have a meeting space, a single staff room and gymnastics area.”

“Yes, they have three separate toilets in every corner too, it’s unreal.”

Kuroo snorted. “So, now what’s the plan?”

“I figured it’ll be easier to corner them in the hallways connecting the gym and the toilet since they can only go downstairs or to those other rooms.” Daishou tapped his chin. “Meeting room and staff room have basic tables. It’s not one of those office tables so they won’t be able to hide under it… So basically, second floor is a death trap if they’re surrounded by two or three demons.”

“I’m fine with taking the first and second then.” Kuroo shrugged. “And we both know that I run faster than you anyway so I can catch whatever strays you let go from the upper floors.”

Daishou hummed. “Maybe you’re right.” Kuroo was taken aback by his answer but Daishou just sighed. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. You might be leading in speed and stamina, but I’m smarter than you in game sense so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“I see that you haven’t changed.” Kuroo pouted. “You’re excruciatingly rude, you know that?”

“I do, yeah. Thanks for pointing out something that I already know.” Daishou said without any hint of sarcasm. Kuroo had to hold back his laughter at the bluntness of his words. “You can text or call me if things got out of hand downstairs. You still have my number?”

“From the group chat, right? The same number from middle school?”

“Same from middle school. I never changed it.”

Kuroo opened his phone to check his signals and snickered. It’s decent. “Look at us being civil and shit. Who would’ve thought?”

“You better shut up or I’ll pluck out your eyeballs with the fork from the counter.” Daishou threatened. “Plus, I’m only doing this for Mika-chan.” He stopped. “…and Kita by extension, but to be fair it also applies to you.”

Kuroo shivered at the mention of the Inarizaki captain. “Yeah… you’re not wrong about that.” Kuroo studied the room for one last time and headed back to the door. “That’s it, right? I’ll be on my way to guard the entrance if we’re done with this room. And if I’m lucky, I’ll get to meet Ushiwaka and mess with him.”

“Leave him alone.” Daishou rolled his eyes. “He’s so unresponsive when I joke around, I almost feel bad for making him the butt of the joke. He doesn’t know what I’m talking about most of the time!”

“Look at you! Daishou Suguru has a heart after all.”

“What the hell does that—“

_THUD_

Kuroo jerked, turning to look back at the empty room. He looked at Daishou to see if he wasn’t crazy or imagining it and the Nohebi captain’s alarmed face told him that it was in fact, real.

It sounded like something small being tipped over, there’s no way anyone would miss that.

“Did something… fall? You heard it, right?” Kuroo knew the answer but it won’t hurt to make sure.

“Of course I did.” Daishou strained his ears to pinpoint where the noise came from. “But is it just me or did it sound muffled?”

“Muffled?”

“Yeah, like it’s…” Daishou struggled to find the word. “I don’t know, it’s in this room but it felt like something else was separating the original sound from our current location.”

Kuroo stared at him. “Do you think it might be a rat?”

“Yeah, right. Rat invested kitchen slash cafeteria in a national institute?” Daishou folded his arms impatiently. “Not impossible, but the chances are low. Considering how well maintained this place is.”

“It’s just a suggestion, Geez.” The Nekoma captain shrugged. “So you’re implying it was a person?”

“Very likely, yes.”

Both of them eyed each other before shifting their glances to the counter again. The kitchen part of the cafeteria wasn’t exactly big but it wasn’t small either. After examining the place as a whole, they concluded that one or two persons could totally fit inside the bottom counter.

Daishou signaled Kuroo to go check and while he hated being ordered by his arch nemesis, his excitement skyrocketed. The thought of seeing someone’s shocked expression from being cornered made a snarky grin appeared on his face. Kuroo had seen a lot of them in the last two hours, Kenma would definitely call him gross for this but he wouldn’t mind seeing more of those faces. Daishou’s shitty personality really rubbed off on him.

Kuroo scrambled over to the cabinets. He purposefully took his time to build up a half-assed tension and honestly, scaring whoever’s inside was entertaining.

Once he finally reached the handle to open it, a loud squeaking of a chair brushing the floor stopped him in his tracks.

The two turned their heads back to meet an extremely familiar small figure standing on a fucking table.

“Over here, dickheads!”

* * *

**[LOCATION: JISS 1F – Sports Cafeteria/Nutrition Room]**

He could get used to the silence. After a full week of a constant yelling in his ears, Yaku finally drowned himself in a peaceful tranquility by hiding in the Sports Science cafeteria. It’s significantly smaller than the SAKURA dining back in the Athlete Village but it’s still a huge place compared to the majority rooms in the building.

Who were we kidding—Yaku was appreciating every second of being alone.

Sure, he got separated by most of his friends past the center of the whole facility, but hey, he had a perfect hiding spot now. Yaku didn’t want to admit it but the cafeteria tables did a very good job at hiding him with his height. The floor wasn’t all that cold, the room’s humidity was kept on check, and with the position he’s in made the place felt like a safe haven.

Yaku was looking forward to this surprise training camp simply to meet up with Suga and Nishinoya again. It’s been a while since the last time they met and it’s such a big coincidence that they went to the same camp in the same city. He also got to meet the national ranked libero Komori Motoya. Yaku didn’t know the guy personally but he acknowledged his skills as a defender and while Komori held the title of being the best currently in high school, the Itachiyama student looked up to Yaku who had won countless awards in middle school.

Contrary to popular belief, Yaku Morisuke wasn’t good at _receiving_ compliments so he didn’t know what to do whenever a group of first and second years swarmed him at lunch breaks to ask for advice. Shibayama being there didn’t help his situation one bit as he seemed so proud of his senpai getting overwhelmed by younger liberos. Yaku complained about why he’s being ‘targeted’ to Kai and the vice-captain just laughed at him, saying he shouldn’t think about it too hard.

How could he not wonder why his underclassmen were seeking for him when there were literally other national-tier liberos with them? Yamagata, Kanbayashi, Komi and Akagi were talented liberos who had lots of experience of playing in the nationals. Haruma from Mujinazaka was a force to be reckoned with too. Yaku only got to nationals in his third year. He’s confident that regardless of Aobajohsai, Nohebi Johzenji and Date Tech never going to the nationals in the past few years, Watari, Akama, Tsuchiyu and Sakunami were splendid liberos—possibly even more so than him. Nishinoya especially.

 _“It’s because you’re easy to approach,”_ Sugawara told him. Yaku had him to say that again to his face because he had no clue as to why Suga would end up with that conclusion. He’s aware of this ‘demon-senpai’ and ‘satanic training partner’ thing that had been going on ever since Kuroo shared the nickname and honestly? He’s not wrong. He didn’t sugarcoat anything and said whatever was in his mind. He’s glad that people were beginning to accept that he’s just that kind of person.

They wanted people like him to teach them, was that the reason? Then again Yaku couldn’t imagine Akagi, Komi or Yamagata teaching anyone. Maybe Kanbayashi and Haruma could, but for the few remaining people? A big fat no.

In the end, he’s glad that it’s quiet. He almost missed it. If the requirement of getting a peace of mind was to enter a stupid fucking game of tag, so be it.

Yaku took a quick glance at his phone screen to check the time. He’s been in the cafeteria from the past hour. While the room itself wasn’t discreet—proven by multiple lost souls wandering in and out of the cafeteria and struggling to find a hiding spot, no one had seen him sitting cross legged underneath the table. He did pull in 4 table chairs so that he’d be in the center of it and it’ll be ten times harder for anyone to see an angry 160ish centimeters gremlin in a room this dark. He tried his best to be unseen by the demons, even to other fellow players.

The libero saw three Aobajohsai third year entered the room and made comments about thrashing the place and Yaku shuddered at the thought. He knew that Matsukawa and Hanamaki were capable of making the traps once they’re fully committed and he wondered if he wanted to keep hiding or making his presence known so he’d be spared from what shitty idea they’re planning to do. Yaku didn’t have to however, because Iwaizumi, bless his heart, was there to reprimand them. They left soon after and Yaku heard them going upstairs.

The second group that passed by was Ennoshita, Yamamoto and Akaashi with a few other players he didn’t recognize by voice. Yaku was genuinely surprised and happy for Tora who’s still alive and kicking, but that meant he’s also separated from the main group. He didn’t doubt Ennoshita and Akaashi as they were a great company and overall nice people to watch your backs so he figured Yamamoto was in good hands. He couldn’t say the same for the so-close-to-screaming pair who’s grouping with them though. Yaku knew their track pants from Shiratorizawa and Aobajohsai so they might be from Sendai. The last person with them was wearing a Nohebi track pants and Yaku couldn’t help but grimace. Well, he didn’t know anyone else as dirty as Daishou and he felt kind of bad for overgeneralizing but he just hoped they’ll be okay. He heard them also going to the second floor.

Now, Yaku didn’t believe in the ‘third time’s the charm’ bullshit because of this third group that came in—they were nowhere near lucky.

Their whispers from the hallways were crystal clear.

“Kuroo-san is going this way!”

“Crap, let’s go to the cafeteria! Hide under the tables or something!”

“Aren’t you too tall to do that?”

Yaku recognized two out of three voices he heard from outside. His guesses were confirmed when he saw three first years filtering in the room, looking anxious. He didn’t try to fight back the ugly grimace appearing on his face.

“He’s walking with that sneaky Nohebi captain!” Lev cried. “Kuroo-san is too far gone. I can’t trust him anymore! This is so heartbreaking!”

Inuoka shushed him by slapping Lev’s mouth lightly. “Be quiet… you don’t want to get caught!” Inuoka let go of his hand and looked to the third person. “Why do we have to go here? Why can’t we just do a detour and run upstairs?”

“The choices are either this place or walking to the end of the hallways to the indoor pool, but we can’t risk of getting caught out in the open … We can’t go anywhere else since the pool has a single exit. It’s also wet and slippery.” The most surprising of it all was Goshiki Tsutomu. He could recall the first year Shiratorizawa wing spiker screaming his lungs out in the beginning of the game and it felt so jarring to see him being calm again. Why on earth was he with Lev and Inuoka?

“Damn it, you’re right…” Lev groaned.

“If it won’t hurt if we try! If you can’t hide under the table, go hide behind the counter.” Inuoka suggested, pointing at the location.

The gray haired teen frowned. “Can it even fit me? I’m like… 190 centimeters, in case you forgot.”

“No, no. The counter has some sort of joined cabinets, so when you open one, it’s connected to the rest of them and it’s spacious inside.” Goshiki explained. “I found out about it yesterday when Tendou-san spilled his yoghurt and sent me to get stuff to clean it.”

“Wait, so you’re saying I’m gonna be buried with cleaning products?” Lev’s frown deepened. “I can already imagine the smell!”

“You don’t have to worry about that, they only use the first cabinet to keep those. Just crawl in until there’s nothing there. You’re not hiding behind the counter, but inside the cabinets for extra safety.” Goshiki assured.

Lev brightened immediately. “Cool! You two find a table, then!”

“This is the fifth time we’ve reminded you to keep your voice down…” Inuoka said.

“Sorry, sorry.” Lev waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s get the heck out of this place after they’re gone.”

Inuoka gave him a thumbs-up and Goshiki nodded.

“Be careful, yeah?”

“Roger!”

Yaku found himself sighing. He would let the three know that he’s here but if what they said about Kuroo and Daishou was right, it’s better to stay quiet. The libero knew for sure that Lev and Inuoka would be ecstatic if they found out Yaku was there with them. He’d be fine with Goshiki too since he’s one of the ‘okay’ underclassman, a.k.a the ones that didn’t get under his skin often. But no matter how happy he was to find people from his team, it’s too risky to do so.

Lev made his way to the counters and ducked. Goshiki went to the table closest to the door and Inuoka walked towards his table.

Wait.

_Walked towards his table?_

Yaku cringed at the screeching noise the chair made as Inuoka dragged it out of the table. The brown haired teen dropped to his knees and scooted under the table without care in the world. He pulled the chair in again and got real comfortable before raising his head to make eye contact with a stunned Yaku.

Inuoka’s eyes widened. “Yaku-sa— _omph_!” The libero was quick to close the first year’s mouth before he could blabber. It’s at that exact moment when he heard the demons stepping inside of the cafeteria. True to their words, they were Kuroo and Daishou arguing their way in.

“Yaku-san?” Inuoka called out softly. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Uh-huh.” Yaku replied quietly, feeling uneasy. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue talking considering they’re this close of getting caught. Instead, Yaku motioned his kouhai to stay silent to which Inuoka nodded right away.

The libero returned to watch the demon pair and he had to say they’re doing a decent job at searching even though Kuroo and Daishou missed them completely. He saw Goshiki tensed up from the other side of the room. Despite his position being the closest to the door, Goshiki’s place was safer than any other spots because if he was one of the demon, Yaku wouldn’t bother checking the entrance. He could say the same for Kuroo but not Daishou. Not to mention their towering height would make it difficult to spot them hiding under the tables so that’s a plus.

Yaku heard that the two went to the same elementary school and had been at each other’s throats after they graduated. He didn’t know the full story (he didn’t want to know) about their rivalries but he knew for a fact something big happened. He could only guess it’s because of volleyball and that they had way too different play styles. Yaku himself had been a sort-of-rival to Kuroo, his middle school had beaten Kuroo’s a lot times and they managed to hold on—that made them a formidable opponent.

There were times where Kuroo went to greet him before a match to be ‘friendly’ and shit. They met Daishou along the way and that was Yaku’s first time witnessing the absolute terrible idea of putting one Kuroo Tetsuro and Daishou Suguru in the same room. Yet he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy watching them bicker, he just hoped they knew the time and place to do so. Yaku took Kuroo’s side for the most part, especially after they became teammates and teasing Daishou was quite a fun thing to do.

He remembered the day when the ultimate training camp was announced, Kuroo swore to destroy the entirety of Nohebi. The team was left worried on what the captain might do but brushed it off and thought Kuroo probably wouldn’t go _that_ far for a petty rivalry, right? Right.

Yaku didn’t know if he’s imagining things but he’s pretty certain that there was an unspoken rule to make an effort to separate any Nohebi members with Nekoma members (like what they did to Shiratorizawa and Aobajohsai), but of course that wouldn’t work—that would defeat the purpose of this training camp. Their coaches wanted them all to work and suffer together, no exceptions. They tried to limit their fights for everyone else’s sake at least.

By assessing their latest interactions in the cafeteria, Yaku could note some developments in their weird relationship. They decided to put their differences aside for once (not their best attempt, but they’re still trying) and the duo was thorough with their hunt. The two captains would kill him for saying this but they worked well together. He’s actually disappointed for not being able to see Kuroo and Daishou playing on the same side of the net. Maybe one day.

His ears twitched at the beeping sounds from Kuroo’s phone. He peeked through the cracks and saw both demons walking towards the door.

“They’re leaving…!” Inuoka breathed out and looked at Yaku. “Should we keep hiding here, or…?”

Yaku shook his head. “Let’s just stay here for the time being till they get a bit far away.”

Inuoka gave another thumbs-up. “Okay.”

_THUD_

Shit.

The counters were next to their table. Only Inuoka and Yaku could hear the barely audible “ouch” beyond the block of wood separating them. But the initial bump was heard by everyone, there’s no denying it.

Kuroo and Daishou shared a look before beginning to search the room again. Yaku’s heart started to race if it wasn’t already when they past their table to get closer to the counter where Lev was. Inuoka was only seconds from panicking and Goshiki gaped from where he’s sitting.

 _That idiot,_ Yaku cursed and stopped himself from clicking his tongue. If the duo found out about Lev, it’ll be over for everyone since the first year would yell out both Inuoka and Goshiki’s names to ask for help—and if he knew Yaku was there too, he won’t be able to escape the demons _and_ his clingy and troublesome kouhai.

It’s a no-win situation.

His thoughts spiraled to the possibility of him getting to the end of this game. He didn’t want to buy anything in particular (though a fancy trip to the mountains was tempting) and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to spend the night in a closed space with building anxiety.

Say that Lev was the only one who got tagged out and he didn’t snitch on his friends, maybe Yaku would still have the chance to win—but Lev would _totally_ snitch. He’s going down to the drain and he’s dragging everyone with him.

But say that Lev didn’t. Then he had to go through the entire night with Inuoka and Goshiki. He loved them, don’t get him wrong, but he’d rather jump off a bridge than babysitting two oversized babies.

Oh, but he didn’t have a lot to lose, didn’t he?

Yaku kicked off the chairs surrounding him, causing Inuoka to yelp. He jumped on the cafeteria table and stared at the demons intently.

If his two options would lead to his doom, might as well make it into a flashy ending.

“Over here, dickheads!”

Kuroo and Daishou turned their heads only to see someone standing on a table with a bottle in their hand. If it wasn’t because of the darkness Kuroo would’ve guessed it was Hinata but it was certainly Yaku with that kind of build, no doubt about it. He heard his screaming voice 24/7, there’s no way Kuroo wouldn’t know.

“Lookie here! Two demons who got scared over a fallen bottle of ketchup.” Yaku took out the bottle he snatched from his table. “Makes me wonder what the hell was the committee thinking when they decided on the demon roles. Surely they’re onto something but I’m hoping this ain’t it!”

The two demons were staring at him without a word, seemingly still needing the time to process what happened to them.

“Y-Yakkun?” It was Kuroo who recovered fist but Yaku won’t let him talk yet.

He drew in another unsteady breath before continuing. “Yeah, I said it! I’m going to tell you a secret, I’ve been sitting under the table here for the entire time! Seeing as no one—get this, NO ONE saw me hiding there proves that you lot is so incompetent at being demons!” Yaku raised his voice. “I should’ve been the one who got the role!”

Kuroo gawked at the remark. “What are you on about?!”

“I’m saying that you two fucking suck!” Yaku pointed at them in accusation. The libero was visibly satisfied when Daishou was starting to lose it.

“What do YOU know about the demon roles?!” Daishou snapped. “Actually, YOU are the real idiot here! Why would you show yourself to us like that? You should be hiding!”

Yaku scoffed. “Hah, I was starting to feel pity for the two of you so I came out! There’s no chance of you finding me anyway so I might as well rub it off to you! I almost feel sorry and ask to get tagged quickly but eh—it is way more fun doing it this way!”

The face Kuroo made was priceless and Yaku wouldn’t trade it for the world. His original plan was to distract them but he got so much more and he’d definitely tease him about this later. He could see from the corners of his eyes that Lev was crouching out of his hiding spot as Goshiki and Inuoka did the same. The trio of first years kept their heads low so the captains wouldn’t be able to see them.

It’d be harder for Lev because of his freakishly tall figure, so Yaku laughed loudly to mask the sound of their frantic footsteps.

“It was so, SO funny to see you hanging out with Daishou, Kuroo! Were you that desperate to win this dumb little game? I can’t believe you’ve sank so low for what—a couple hundred yen? What a joke!” Yaku grinned at Kuroo’s sour expression. “You’ve become what you swore to destroy!”

“Look, it’s not like I have any other choice, okay?!” Kuroo barked and pointed his finger to Daishou. “I don’t wanna be stuck with this asshole, but we had raffles to decide the pairs and shit! I had no control over it!”

“I could say the same about you! You think I want to be here?!” Daishou put both hands on his hips.

Kuroo huffed. “You’re always looking for the chance to piss me off, of course you’re enjoying every second of my suffering!”

“Tch, as much as I do enjoy thrashing you, I HAVE standards!” Daishou stepped forward, getting in Kuroo’s space.

“What standards? For all we know your standard is low as hell, you’re okay with anything!”

“Why would I waste my entire night just to be with you when there are a lot of things I could be doing?!” Daishou shrieked, hands gripping on Kuroo’s jersey and pulling him down to his eye level.

“You two are equally terrible people!” Yaku said, shaking his head. “I thought people seek for people who are similar to them, so you two are indirectly insulting yourselves, y’know!”

The libero shut up the next second after receiving twin glares from the captains. It’s concerning how fast they went against each other with a single taunt. Yaku made a mental note to treat them a group therapy session when he had the time.

“You’re delusional! How highly do you think of yourself?!”

“Go find a mirror and tell yourself that! You’re no better than I am!”

“I’ve never been in _your_ level of narcissism! I don’t have the need to shove my shitty pride on everyone’s faces because I’m so insecure of myself!”

“What—I swear I'm gonna end up stabbing your eyes out with that fork!”

“Oh yeah? I’d do the same but you already have no eyes and a good person would never do that.”

“Good person my ass!”

“You just threatened me with a fucking fork!”

“You asked for it!”

. . .

Yaku didn’t need to say anything anymore. They’re wrestling for the heck of it at this point. If Yaku didn’t know any better, he’d come to a conclusion that they hated each other’s guts and nothing else. He thought if people knew them enough, you’d think that they’re really just playing this rivalry a bit too seriously. It’s endearing to watch, if he had to say. None of them had died yet so it must be good-natured. Well, maybe.

He couldn’t catch the sight of anyone else in the room so it was safe to assume they got out safely. Yet if they kept on yelling like this, any other demons from outside would come after them on their way out. Yaku hoped they ran out far enough from the cafeteria—hell, out of the building even. He wouldn’t want to linger longer in a building with these two disasters.

Kuroo and Daishou were still yelling and he slowly jumped down the table. He carefully walked backwards to the door so he’d be ready to bolt out if they caught him leaving the room.

Only a few feet away from the door and he’s out of there. He bumped with something hard on his back. It couldn’t be a wall as it was way softer than an actual brick. The libero mentally cursed for being clumsy at a time like this but as he tried to regain himself, a loud _clack_ made the remaining three people freeze.

Yaku widened his eyes. The item that had once wrapped around his wrist fell to the floor with a sickening thud. The bracelet was shining a red light—illuminating the kanji ‘human’ as a clear evidence that the item now deemed useless. He whirled around and found himself face-to-face with a certain gray hair with dark ends.

“What on earth is goin’ on here?”

It was a _bothered_ Kita Shinsuke—that, as in regular Kita Shinsuke with a slight difference on his eyebrows but it was still sinister as fuck.

The Nohebi and Nekoma captains were at loss of words with their jaws hanging open and skin ghostly white. Kita simply tilted his head, patiently waiting for their answer. After a solid minute of stone cold silence, Kita looked down to Yaku who hadn’t moved from his position to ask for his instead.

“Uh…” Yaku had a hard time forming his reply. “I wasn’t in on it—”

“Bullshit!” Daishou exploded, pulling all the attention towards him. He backed away in a flash the moment Kita’s eyes met his. _How is it possible to be that scary?_

“Well, let me ask ye a question then.” Kita hummed. “I can hear your voices from miles away. What makes ye think havin’ another pointless fight is gonna do ya any good?”

The duo gulped at the exact same time. _How is he so powerful?_

“I’m not the one to order ye around, but ye two are disturbin’ the people near us so I can’t let it slide.”

Kuroo and Daishou stayed still. Yaku couldn’t believe what he’s seeing right now. _Is this guy for real?_

“What if I tell the coaches on ya?” Yaku didn’t miss the way their shoulders stiffened. “What would ya do next?”

“You don’t need to do that, man!” Kuroo went over to pat Kita’s shoulder in desperation. Kita raised his eyebrows but Kuroo kept pressing. “That one was an accident. I swear we won’t do it again! Right, Daishou-kun?”

“Err, of course!” Daishou gave a hesitant nod.

“Ye’ve said that before but look at yerself.” Kita countered. Kuroo pouted at his response and stepped away. “Not that I mean anythin’ bad for any of ya, yer free to do whatever ya want but please don’t be noisy. That’s all I ask.”

The duo groaned in sync for the second time that night. _What the hell is going on._

“I suppose I can’t leave ye two alone… I’ll come with. I hope Suwa-kun won’t mind.”

With that, the three of them headed to the door one by one to continue their search. Kuroo didn’t walk out of the room before giving Yaku the ugliest look that was probably his attempt to look intimidating. Yaku could smell a long talk-over of this subject coming on the bus on their way home from Kuroo. He genuinely couldn’t care less.

“Sorry for taggin’ ya out like this, I didn’t even mean to do that, Yaku-kun.” Kita said. Yaku was taken aback at the sudden apology but waved his hand.

“No, no! I wasn’t after the prize money anyway.” Yaku replied.

Kita seemed relieved at his answer and Yaku found himself smiling too. His mind went to reason why Yaku was doing this in the first place.

He had to know.

“Kita, was it?” Yaku called him. Kita nodded at the name and prompted him to continue. “Did you see a group of first years on your way here? Or anyone at all?”

The Inarizaki captain thought for a second before shaking his head. “No, I didn’t. I ran here the moment I heard them screamin’.”

_Good_. Yaku sighed in relief.

His sacrifice wasn’t in vain, then. That was a nice couple of hours running, now he could be at peace and to be completely honest, the first years had better chances of winning than him alone. Getting tagged by Kita was also a bonus since he’d rather die than giving 200 yen to either of them. Though Kita was seen as icy cold, Yaku was sure he’s lovely off court.

And _man_ , a glass of water after an impromptu screaming match would be nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> \- And there you have it folks, Yaku is out of the game! There's still a lot of other players to place your bets on...  
> \- Kuroo and Daishou went to the same elementary school, change my mind  
> \- I felt like you need a specific amount of time to be able to withstand Kita's cold logic. Kuroo and Daishou aren't an exception.
> 
> WE'LL HAVE KENMA'S POV NEXT WEEK!! 
> 
> >> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) | [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/)


	7. 10 Signs You’re a Pro Player in Mental Gymnastics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has its ups and downs.
> 
> [9 PM - part II]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> This is actually one of the first chapters I've written for this fic oop- Did some major editing because this was supposed to be the first chapter instead.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

**9** **PM [** **10** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS: 1** **50** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: Indoor Tennis Courts]**

**_“Attention, everyone._** ** _Two_** ** _hours has passed and it is now_** ** _9_** ** _PM. For those who lost the game, please return to the Ajinomoto fields with your bracelets—do not throw them_** ** _away_** ** _carelessly._** ** _”_** Nametsu’s voice was clearer than ever since the whole facility had become dead quiet. No more loud pleading screams, just regular muffled ones. As per usual.

 **_“_ ** **_We will be spending the night here so we hope you’ll find your way back immediately.”_ **

Night on the fields? _Yikes._

Even if they had tents, he’d definitely die from the breeze for sleeping there for the night.

Kenma had planned to sneak out and go straight to his shared bedroom after the parting ceremony to resume his game he’d bought not too long ago. Usually, he could’ve had finished his game in a week _at most_ , but his school just gotta be accepted in this stupid camp. The blond setter had heard a lot of stuff from Shoyou, since the first year texted him to talk about anything for every single day.

Kenma didn’t mind this, of course. He appreciated (almost) every interaction with Shoyou so his recent texts about the training camp genuinely peaked his interest, just not to that extent. The idea of spending the entire week doing extra practice felt very time-consuming and unnecessary under the summer heat but he knew he’s the only one who thought that way. Literally everyone and their mothers had busied themselves with this free-form camp project.

He’s one of the few people who knew that Shoyou was the one who sparked it because Kenma was the first person that he told. Kenma liked to humor him, you see—so he kept indirectly supporting whatever he was doing although Kenma wasn’t 100% on board with the idea himself. When the Karasuno’s middle blocker came to text him that the camp was actually going to happen, he was dumbstruck.

He knew it was coming. It’s Hinata Shoyou after all. He's surprised, but it's not unexpected.

****

**_“The number of the remaining survivors is 1_** ** _50_** ** _,_** **_almost_** ** _half of you are already dead! You guys have better chances_** ** _now_** ** _!”_** Suzumeda intervened before the Date Tech manager could open her mouth to continue.

 ** _”You didn’t have to call them survivors…and the dying part. Well, whatever you say. Good luck, everyone!”_** Nametsu finished.

**_“Let’s fight till the end!”_ **

Kenma thought the term “survivor” was not too far off from reality, so the cheeky Fukuroudani manager was kind off right about that. If this was an actual playable game you could buy in game stores, then he’ll be one of the characters. Yet the setter didn’t think he’ll be the main character—hell, not even an NPC, since this was _not_ a game to begin with and Kenma wanted nothing to do with it.

The second he heard about the prize, his mind was instantly filled with numerous games he hadn’t purchased as he ran out of pocket money, or maybe some Royalty memberships to get limited items for his older ones that he enjoyed. Kenma didn’t like the pay-to-win shticks and tend to avoid it, but sometimes he wanted to experience the feeling of getting special treatment and owning customable skins he could get in a game. Sure, it’d get boring quickly because it’s practically cheating.

Still, that 100,000 Yen was tempting.

Kenma hardly managed to slip through the demons and had successfully escaped to the indoor tennis court, in return of being separated with his own teammates. They planned to go to one of the rooms at the Athlete Village (consider the comfy beds, multiple bedrooms to hide, snacks, and if the world’s feeling generous, electricity), but Bokuto and that Mujinazaka captain just _had_ to be there to block them.

He settled on sitting at the right corner of the facility instead after barricading the entrances with four supply boxes he’d found. Not like it could do much, at least he’d be alerted if someone did try to barge in. The setter chose the tennis court so he’d have a lot of space to move and run around from the demons. He’s not confident with his speed but he can figure out ways to outsmart them somehow. Years of hiding from Kuroo and Tora in unlikely places to ditch practice won’t fail him now.

Kuroo forgot to give back his PSP after dinner like he promised, leaving Kenma with nothing but his cellphone. Not to mention the phone’s battery was at 30% and won’t survive playing Genshin Impact or FGO for the whole night. Kenma wasn’t normally this ambitious—Hell, he really wanted to get back to his games and _sleep._ He’s sure that if any of his teammates were with him right now, they’d be scared out of their minds to know that Kenma made even the slightest effort to continue running for the sake of the game. This one’s different, since it’s rewarded with physical items.

He scowled. Despite the fact that the he’d found a secure spot for hopefully a long time, but it wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t have anything to busy himself. 10 hours till 7 AM, how on earth could Kenma survive before boredom consumed him?

On the bright side, the building was most definitely warm. A bit too humid for his liking, but it’s the best that he could get in this kind of situation. The blond tucked his knees into his chest with his head hidden between his knees, leaning on the wall nearest to the blocked entrance. He did all he could to fight the urge to shut his eyes and completely fall into his dreamland—where he’s alone with his very own gaming room and proper fancy setup. Kenma sure as hell wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to make his dream a reality. 100,000 Yen wasn’t enough to buy all of them, but he could still buy one or two things for himself.

Though he wondered if this was worth it or not.

_I could’ve spent the first_ _2_ _hours doing what I actually want. Not this. What the hell, Kuroo._

Kenma yawned as he tapped to unlock his phone to look at the digital clock. Only 15 minutes had passed after the last announcement… Time seemed to be moving excruciating slow, or was it just his imagination?

The Nekoma’s setter lifted his head from his knees to take a quick scan of the building once again. It’s a regular tennis court like any other. He’d thought to try and climb one of the supply closets but promptly decided to drop the idea since he won’t be able to get back down. Hiding in the janitor room was also a good decision to make, however if what they’ve told him about the doors being unlocked at all times was right, then he couldn’t make his getaway if someone did manage to enter the room as he only had one exit available. The blond teen resolved to sit in the corner with no protection so he could rush off easier with open spaces.

His heart almost jumped when all the sudden he heard ear-splitting screams coming from outside.

Kenma didn’t stand up on his feet to move to a finer spot, instead he stayed put—wishing whoever it was to run somewhere else. Their voices were mixed together to perform a chaotic mess of a chorus consisted of a bunch of screaming children running around like there’s no tomorrow. He was sure he caught several familiar ones, Sugawara and Kageyama’s voices were quite distinguishable. Or at least what he thought to be Kageyama as he’s never heard the Karasuno’s number 9 yell that loud even when he’s with his usual training partner— Hinata.

“Daichi, you big jerk! Colossal meanie!” Sugawara yelped. His usual refreshing tune had become rough and hoarse from running too long. Kenma knew that despite saying that, Sugawara didn’t have any ill will and still feeling playful if he had interpreted his ragged voice correctly. “You’re telling me you would sell your friends for 200 Yen? After all we’ve been through together, is this how you return the favor?!”

Well, Kuroo would. He had made it clear when he tagged out half of Nekoma at the beginning.

“It’s not like I wanted to do this, you know! I have to become the demon because Coach Ukai told me, and there’s no way I’d say no to him!” Daichi tried to defend himself but Sugawara scoffed.

“He’s bullshitting us, Suga-san!” A third voice spoke up. Kenma didn’t recognize the voice instantly, but surely he’d heard them before. “This is not our real captain, he’s a fake! You saw how fast he tagged Asahi-san, didn’t you? The real Daichi-san will never turn into a dirty traitor!”

“He’s right!” Another voice chimed in.

Kenma almost felt bad for the Karasuno captain. He was actually one of the few people Kenma tolerated and he had never tried to intrude the setter’s personal space unlike how everybody did at the camp. Too bad that the world hate them that much to make him take part of absurd game.

If they kept running, their voices should be inaudible by the distance but the volume had gradually increased. Sugawara, Kageyama and the other two were currently on the other side of the wall—directly separating both of them and Kenma.

“It’s the end of the line for you guys! Consider this before you judge me though, we’ll get additional 1000 yen for our club funds!” Daichi stated, trying to get closer to the remaining players.

Sugawara harshly scoffed. “Yachi got that covered with her posters for donations! Plus, you’re the one who refused my idea of making lemonade stands to collect money _legally_ , now the kids are starving because of your lack of understanding!”

“We’re a volleyball team, Suga! And stop calling them kids, they’re only one or two years younger than you!’

There’s no windows or cracks on the wall in the tennis court building yet Kenma sort off wanted to see what kind of face Kageyama was making right now. Probably a wild combination of his usual resting bitch face and a 2 year old who wanted to go to a toilet but had to watch his parents argue before he could go, only to tell them that he already did it on his pants when they realized the room smelled like shit. Whatever, he’s not in the mood to think about that and tried not to move as he didn’t want the attention to shift onto him.

After listening to their incoherent banters and several attempts of tagging them out on Daichi’s side for an extended period of time, the sound of their footsteps and voices had finally died out. Kenma sighed in relief as he had just dodged a bullet. He really had to calm his nerves since the adrenaline wasn’t doing him any good. Games were always the answer to release his stress but his phone couldn’t handle a full blown gaming session right now.

Talking to Tora and Fukunaga were also an option when he was feeling slumped.

Maybe he’s overreacting. At the end of the day, this was only a game of tag. He could go out and say “hey please tag me out. Give me whatever, even the shittiest tent you have, I don’t care, I want to sleep” anytime he wanted but the prize was too good , and this was the first time in the entire week of training where Kenma actually _did_ try _._ He’s been through the first 2 hours and he’s not going to let that 100,000 Yen go after wasting 2 and sadly another 10 hours. That comfy Clutch gaming chair was screaming his name, dammit.

Kenma picked up his phone and pulled open Tora’s contact, hesitating. He knew the Mohawk haired teen would answer him immediately if he were to call him. He couldn’t risk jeopardizing Tora’s hiding place if the boy forgot to lower his cellphone volume again, but man—if Kenma couldn’t play, he needed someone to talk to him because his mind liked to wonder off. The last time he’s out alone without his game, he tripped on his own leg and fell onto the ground as he was thinking how humpback whales could mate.

He remembered that Fukunaga had left his own phone to charge in SAKURA Dining where they ate their dinner. Kenma winced, he couldn’t imagine how overheated Fukunaga’s phone by now. He just hoped Kuroo or anyone who found the phone to plug out the charger. Why did he leave his phone there to begin with? Kenma knew that Fukunaga got along with nearly everyone even though the boy wasn’t the most talkative ones out there, but that didn’t mean he could charge a phone in such a public place and trust them to leave it alone. _You do you, I guess._

Finally, if he were to text Kuroo, he might have to leave the building and never come back. People tend to dismiss the fact that he’s quite keen—usually after seeing his constant shit eating grin and thought he’s some kind of weirdo (which was true but don’t say it like that).

The moment Kenma pressed the send button, he’d be bombarded by questions like; “You okay?” “What’s up, are you sick? Or did u miss me ;)” “Why did you text me? What happened?” “Did you die in the game? How was it lol,” or anything along the lines. Which was nice, Kenma wouldn’t lie. But Kuroo had the tendency to always assume the worst case scenario and he hated that his childhood friend’s concerns were justified. If one of them did want to talk, they just had to open the windows or walk out of the house and go to the house next door. They never talked over the phone.

If Kenma shot him a text, he could already predict what Kuroo would think. A simple “hey” could give him more than enough hints to figure out where he was

> 1). Kenma was separated from the group as he didn’t need any reason to contact anyone if they’re still together.
> 
> 2). He’d know that Kenma didn’t have his console with him and was most likely bored.
> 
> 3). If he’s bored with his cellphone, then his phone battery was at its limits. Normally plenty of hot places could affect phone batteries, making them decrease significantly.
> 
> 4). It’s in the middle of summer. They’ve been having extra chilly nights and if the electricity had been cut off, the Air Conditioners won’t work.

In conclusion, Kenma was alone in one of the blazing hot indoor buildings with no windows to let the night breeze inside. The only place that fit the criteria was the indoor tennis court he’s currently in. Damn.

He lowered his phone down in defeat. _Stupid Kuroo and his stupid quirks_. Kenma was back to where he started, wallowing on the court ground and planning his next course of action. It had been 45 minutes since he first got here and if he kept this up he could actually bullshit his way through till 7 AM. He didn’t know when to find another place to hide. The setter couldn’t go to other buildings without making himself vulnerable. Going outside was pretty much a suicide—it’s like asking to be tagged.

Or he could just sleep.

He could lay down under the umpire chair so he won’t be seen at once and spread his jacket for better camouflage. That sounded like a good idea, despite how ridiculous he’d look if someone did manage to find him in that state. Kenma yawned for what it felt like hundredth time and decided to do it anyway. The end was still far away and he’s not gonna get anything from sitting here doing nothing. It’s a great chance to rest as well to recover his energy before darting out from the court.

The blond took off his jacket and hung them on the chair he’s going to sleep under. He’s thankful that the floor was cold enough for his taste so he’d be asleep in no time. Kenma glanced to the entrance one more time before settling in his spot. In case of demons or someone else trying to step inside the building, he could hear the door crashing on the boxes of supplies he had stacked. Everything was set.

He just hoped this event would be over soon.

All was quiet and Kenma closed his eyes.

And that’s exactly when he heard a sudden deafening crack.

The noise was like a shockwave, freezing Kenma in place. He cursed, wishing that no one but him had heard the heart-stopping bang coming from the court entrance. Kenma got up on his feet at a slow pace and cautiously approached the fallen barricades to check the damage. Nothing of the sort had been broken, only toppled over.

It appeared that even God didn’t want to give him a break.

He readied himself in case somebody forced to open the door.

“H-hello? Crap, why isn’t it opening…”

_Oh._

That sounded like…

“Shoyou?”

He overheard a terrified gasp from beyond the doors but that really didn’t confirm his guess—at least he knew that whoever’s outside wasn’t a demon. He decided to test his luck.

Before Kenma could repeat himself, the person shot him a question instead.

“I-is that… Kenma? Is that you?”

The blond literally _leaped_ to crack open the doors, careful to not push over the fallen boxes.

There he was, hands on his knees, covered in sweat and out of breath. Hinata’s eyes comically widened like a child on Christmas Eve at the sight of his gamer friend. Kenma made a gesture to let Hinata inside and the middle blocker obliged without a word, slightly limping from running so much. Kenma quickly closed the door shut before anyone could see them going in.

Hinata dropped on the floor as he panted heavily. He hadn’t said anything yet since he’s still breathless but he did try anyway. “Oh God… oh my God, Kenma… wait, hold on please…” Hinata held up a hand.

“It’s alright, take your time, I understand.” Kenma huff a breath that was almost a laugh.

When the orange haired teen finally stabled, his head jerked up to meet the setter’s eyes and start to bombard him with questions.

“It’s you, Kenma! It’s really you! I haven’t seen you since like, forever! Or was it dinner? Or at the ceremony?! All this running is making my head dizzy, I don’t know about you but water sounds nice right now. Hey, do you know where we can get drinks? I’m pretty sure we—“

“Shoyou, lower your voice. Someone might hear you.” Kenma put up a finger to silence the anxious teen before his voice became gradually higher.

Hinata’s mouth formed into a tight straight line before nodding.

“Whoops, sorry for overwhelming you! I mean—” Hinata closed his mouth shut before continuing with a much lower volume. “Sorry for overwhelming you…” The first year spluttered. Kenma just weakly shook his head.

“No worries. It’s been a rough night, even though we’ve only been ‘playing’ for two and a half hours.” Kenma sighed, emphasizing the word _playing_ in particular. What bullshit. “I know how you feel.”

“This whole thing would be fun if we do it under broad daylight, and maybe with more raffles to decide who’s gonna be the demons! Everyone became too serious after the prize announcement… especially the captains.” Hinata shuddered at the thought. Kenma had to agree. “Then again… 100,000 Yen is a lot, and I can buy hundreds of amusement park tickets with that amount of money. Natsu would be so happy!”

The second year nodded solemnly. Of course Shoyou was after the prize money too, and the reason was so on brand of him. They sat in silence for a moment to take everything in and only Hinata’s harsh breathing could be heard.

Kenma’s heart almost jumped for the second time when Hinata’s eyes turned to stare at his own without warning.

“Ahhh, I’m so glad I found you, Kenma…” Hinata had clapped Kenma on the shoulder, squeezing almost too tight. “We split up before Daichi-san could call Ushijima-san for backup. Suga-san went with Noya-san and Tanaka-san. And Kageyama… ugh, I’m not sure where he ran off, but everyone managed to escape, and that’s the most important part!”

Oh. Now that he thought of it, the Karasuno captain did say 1000 Yen—if one person was worth 200 Yen, then they were actually 5 people when Sugawara and Kageyama stumbled to the building. It was a bit jarring knowing that Shoyou had been there the entire time, presumably too shook to talk.

“It’s good that we’re together!” He exclaimed. “I suck at making strategies or whatnot and the only thing keeping me alive right now is just my speed… I got away from Daichi-san by circling around the building, you know.” Hinata trailed off before continuing with a slight flush of red appearing on his face, probably still recovering from the aftermath of their chase.

“Kenma, you’re one of the smartest people I’ve met—oh, you must have something on your mind already! If the two of us joined forces, we’ll be invincible!”

The setter thought of it for a second. Technically he couldn’t refuse the offer because they ended up hiding in the same place, ultimately. If he did refuse, the orange haired teen would most certainly step out from the court at once and Kenma didn’t trust him enough to make a soundless exit. It’s Hinata Shoyou he’s talking about after all, every part of him screamed _noisy._

In a pleasant way, surely.

Kenma didn’t realize he was silent for too long as Hinata’s face slowly faltered.

“Oh, am I being too forceful, Kenma?! I swear I won’t get in your way! I know you also want the prize and—“

“It’s okay. And of course we can team up, Shoyou.” Kenma answered the first year’s initial question at last. Hinata’s face perked up at the answer and scurried to stand next to the setter with a beaming smile. “But only if you promise me to lower your voice, even your regular voice could be heard from miles away.”

Kenma smiled at Hinata’s brightened face. “Now help me pile the boxes you’ve tipped over.”

Hinata was barely able to refrain from laughing at the setter’s attempt for a joke, smacking his own face in the process to stop himself from exploding. The middle blocker’s cheek was probably too hurtful to say anything in response, so he gave a weak thumbs-up instead. Kenma let out a light chuckle at his companion’s antics.

Maybe with Shoyo, he— _they_ might have a chance to actually win that 100,000 Yen.

Kuroo can go fuck himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> \- The chapter title is from my sister and I'm genuinely concerned for her  
> \- I can't stress this enough, I LOVE childhood Kuroken so much  
> \- Kenma and Hinata = currently the strongest combo in this game YET!  
> \- Suga, Tanaka and Nishinoya went as a group, leaving Kageyama alone. Where will he go?~
> 
> The next one is my favorite, we'll have the majority of the next captains' POV (aka Ennoshita, Akaashi, etc) next week!
> 
> >> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!
> 
> See ya!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yyuuraii) | [IG](https://www.instagram.com/yyuuraii/)


	8. Common Sense? Never Heard of that Server

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next batch of pain.
> 
> [9 PM - part III]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AJDHKJSH SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATE!!!!! Also I decided to delete the character tags so I'll be using only the school tags, character relationships and team captains so it won't be too cluttered aaaa
> 
> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)

* * *

**9** **PM [** **10** **HOURS LEFT]**

 **REMAINING PARTICIPANTS: 1** **57** **/240**

* * *

**[LOCATION: West Indoor Training Center 2F -** **Exclusive-use Facilities, Basketball** **]**

_Where the hell did they even get that 100,000 Yen._

Was it from donation? Or charity? Wait, there’s no way they’d actually tried to rip off unassuming donators’ pockets for some prize money to give to irresponsible high schoolers, right? Hirugami wasn’t sure if he wanted the money then—before he knew where they come from. If he won, that is.

He’s still debating whether or not running with Hoshiumi was good idea. Not like he disliked the guy (actually one of the best people Hirugami had ever met so there’s no way he’d hate him) but Hoshiumi could be unbearable at times, but compared to Hoshiumi—he’s glad that he didn’t end up in the same room as Hakuba or Nozawa. If Kourai was unbearable, then Hakuba Gao and Nozawa Izuru were borderline _impossible_ to handle. They’d be found out in mere seconds.

Hirugami didn’t remember the map of the training center very well so he’d been following Hoshiumi’s directions since the beginning because it looked like he remembered the building like the back of his hand. Or more like the fiery boy himself dragged Hirugami to hell together with him. They’ve settled in the Basketball court room in first floor where most handball equipment resided to be their hiding spots. The Kamomedai ace had admitted to the team that the basketball gym and the sport itself were pretty cool when they went out to explore. Hirugami was perplexed by this as he couldn’t figure out how his little companion found basketball, of all things, to be remotely interesting. Besides, he’s certain that the boy hated the sport because Hoshiumi’s brother played the sport and basically gatekeeping him when he was little. Well, everyone’s entitled of their own opinions, he guessed.

The middle blocker glanced at Hoshiumi who had his eyes wide open to be on guard of their surroundings and jittering in excitement. Good, at least he’s being quiet. Sachirou couldn’t believe that a lot of people had in fact thought Hoshiumi—the “I’ll beat your asses for calling me short you fucking colossus bean pole piece of shit” Hoshiumi, was the calm and collected one between the duo (it’s true, but only in the game, dammit) while he’s probably the same as that Atsumu from Inarizaki because of his apparently flirtatious hair style; loud and sardonic. There’s no fairness in this world he live in, to be compared with the Miya Atsumu by that reason. Here was Hoshiumi, vibrating on his seat like a toddler, completely ignorant at the situation in hand.

Unless he’s totally into the game and had a clear goal in mind. Did he want the prize, perhaps?

4 going on 5 years of knowing Kourai, Sachirou had known that the boy was ambitious and determined. He discovered new things about the white haired teen every single day because he always had something to show off. Not that he mind, Hoshiumi had every right to be proud of what he could do and Hirugami should be supportive as his friend. If Kourai told him that he was actually easily bribed with money then he wouldn’t be too surprised since that was one of many possibilities that Sachirou had considered.

“Kourai-kun…” He started. Hoshiumi quickly turned his head to meet his eyes with an audible ‘huh’ and prompted him to continue. The middle blocker opened his mouth again and began to voice his thought. “Why are you so set on to win this kind of game? We don’t know where the money came from—for all we know that they probably faked the prize to pump our spirits up, only to give us nothing at the end.”

“Is that what you’ve been thinking about this whole time? You want the money? I didn’t think you’d say that, thought it’d be something more serious.” Hoshiumi tilted his head in genuine confusion.

Now Hirugami was certainly offended by that. He felt a slight tinge of hurt in his chest because _how dare_ the ace even assumed that he’s nothing more than a person who’s money hungry. All those years of friendship he’d built with Hoshiumi had been destroyed and disintegrated into mere dust, leaving them with nothing as none had remained.

Oof, he really needed to relax. When did he revert back to his uptight self again?

“No, I’m not in it for the money. I’m just wondering why you’re so serious on winning this game and with that amount of money in line. Surely you’re aiming to get it right? But what’s driving you exactly?” He asked.

Hoshiumi let out a soft hum, his eyes darted and wincing to the ceiling to form his answer. That’s one of a few ticks Hirugami had noticed about the ace recently, it was as if he’d find the answers if he looked up to the roof. It was quite funny to watch. “Is it wrong for wanting to win?” Hoshiumi replied flatly. “It’s still a game, and games are meant to be won.”

Not like Kourai was wrong about wanting to win—it’s the same with Volleyball. It’s all only a game. _But he answered like it’s the most obvious thing in the world???_

“So you’re saying that you _do_ want the money?” Hirugami asked, almost too fast.

The ace beamed at him and gave an ear to ear smile (the widest grin he’d seen so far). Hirugami swallowed at the sudden sparks showing in his eyes. “Nope, not really! I just wanna beat up the captains and tell them they ain't shit!”

Oh wow.

He should’ve expected that very Hoshiumi Answer.

The white haired teen took the silence as an invitation to proceed so he continued to talk. “Not in a malicious way, like I kinda want to at least _bonk_ Suwa-san or Ushijima’s heads when I got the chance. I don’t know, I think the game was fun and before I knew it my competitive side just went— _bam_! You know? The money is just a bonus!” The ace made rocking motions with his hands, complete with sound effects to accompany the movements. He’s been hanging out with that Hinata for a little too long, it seemed.

“And how exactly are you going to accomplish that?” Hirugami asked slowly as he put his palm on his face. He needed a drink.

“Ohh, they’re gonna catch these hands. Bet.” Hoshiumi swore in clear resolve as he pumped his fists.

Hirugami frowned. “Your bracelet is going to pop off if you touch them, though.”

“I have this rock.”

Silence. Hirugami’s gaze zeroed to the pebble the other teen had pulled out from his pant pocket and shoved them to the middle blocker’s face to let him have a better look.

What.

“How long have you had that.” He deadpanned.

Hoshiumi’s eyes were gleaming at the question. “I was walking with Hinata Shoyou and found this weird rock, but he said it looks cool so I’ve been carrying this bad boy for DAYS! Finally I get to use them. Those demons don’t stand a chance.”

What the fuck. What the _fuuuuuck_.

So that’s why the ace’s pockets seemed full. Sachirou had believed that was probably a piece of crumpled paper or tissues that the other boy forgot to throw away or meant to keep but didn’t get the time to store them somewhere else, but an actual piece of _rock?_ And quite a big one at that. The middle blocker didn’t even want to know what Hoshiumi and Karasuno’s number 10 had been doing in the past week of camp as he probably couldn’t handle their shenanigans.

Hirugami nervously laughed. “Please don’t throw rocks at people…”

“What should I throw then?” Hoshiumi’s eyes wondered off to his surroundings for a couple of seconds before adding in, “Oh! Wanna try throwing the basketballs or barbells in the other room? I’m pretty strong y’know, I bet I can pick it up easily! Plus I have perfect precision for some great headshots!”

_THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM._

“Don’t, you’ll literally kill them!” Hirugami raised his voice. “And don’t shoot them right in the head!”

Hoshiumi’s face was visibly frustrated and folded his arms to his chest. “What am I supposed to do then? We have to immobilize them somehow, to stop them on their tracks and stuff! What am I allowed to do? What to throw?”

“How about we don’t throw anything.” Hirugami demanded.

“Nonsense!” The ace put his hands on his hips. “Going all out without a weapon is practically suicide. How about YOU choose our weapon if you’re so prissy about it?” _I could say the same to you_ _!_

Sachirou didn’t think he should support him for this particular reason. He didn’t think he _want_ to support him if it involved things that could potentially harm someone else. A rock that size or a single basketball wouldn’t hurt much, but he knew Hoshiumi had the monster strength to turn those objects to feel like canons and when the ace said something about having accurate precision, he wasn’t lying.

The middle blocker pondered for another minute. But naturally, like any other athletes who were lost in daydreams, their thoughts involuntary went to their respective sport.

_Volleyball._

Hirugami scratched his head. “I don’t know… Throw them volleyballs? It’s the safest out of all things you’ve told me, and it has lower risk of getting concussions though I still don’t agree on throwing them at people.”

“Ohh, good idea!” Hoshiumi clapped his hands. “Let’s go get them, then!”

Wait. Did he step on a landmine?

“But the training hall is on third floor and we just heard screams coming from upstairs.” Hirugami uttered blankly. The other boy somehow became more enthusiastic than before (if that’s even possible).

“Then we’ll only have this rock to rely on if we run into the demons!” Hoshiumi chirped. “I told you this is gonna be useful for us!”

And there he cracked. A cool and refined Hirugami Sachirou was no more. He couldn’t think of any other reason to refute his friend’s unbelievable statements despite the fact that Hoshiumi’s motive was extremely destructive for him and himself.

He could say no. He could _always_ say no to him, but Hirugami didn’t want to deal with the aftermath as the ace had never backed down from his own ideals. If he did say no and Hoshiumi kept trying to annihilate the captains then it’s not his problems anymore since he already tried to console him about the idea. If Suwa ended up scolding him, he’d tell the truth, and that’s it.

But if he said yes, then he’ll be able to spend the entire night with Hoshiumi for the rest of the game and could possibly win if they joined forces—with a lot of things being risked on, of course.

_Is it worth it?_

Hirugami let a long and exasperated sigh before turning to Hoshiumi who was waiting for his reply with wide-eyed anticipation. What a waste of character development he had back in middle school. He couldn’t think straight with the built up stress, and where the hell did the relaxed version of him go?

_I can quit anytime. I don’t think I’m enjoying myself right now. It’s my choice._

But this wasn’t about volleyball. This was something else entirely and he knew Hoshiumi wouldn’t let him give up when they’re already this far gone to the game anyway.

_Dammit. Might as well do it, and maybe try keeping Kourai from murdering anyone while I’m at it._

* * *

**[LOCATION: JISS 2F –** **Staff Room** **]**

If there was one lesson Ennoshita felt like he had truly learned in his two going on three years at Karasuno, it's that it paid to be prepared. Well, that and the fact that he's also the newly appointed captain and still didn't know how to feel.

....and that he really hated running—even more so when he's chased by demons.

....and that he absolutely did not expect Daichi to be participating in this dreadful event.

....and also—

"Oi, Ennoshita!"

Yahaba's light smack on his shoulder was enough to bring the black haired teen back to reality.

He blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

Ennoshita scanned his surroundings to recall his past encounters. He didn't remember much from the opening event (since it was such a clusterfuck of an opening), all he did know was running with the people closest to him at the moment. The next Karasuno captain was having an immersive conversation with other successors over captaincy, like what he's been doing since they first got here. It's good to maintain connection, he had learned it from Daichi, and Ennoshita agreed with that statement wholeheartedly.

But here he was, hiding in one of the room at JISS, or also known as Japan Institute of Sports Sciences because _JISS_ sounded “weird” (as Tanaka once told him) with 5 other players separated from their teams in the midst of chaos.

"Don't tell me you're feeling sleepy already?" Yahaba questioned.

"If you fall asleep in the middle of this, I swear to God you will not get a pleasant wake up call." Shirabu threatened from Yamamoto’s left.

Akaashi smiled faintly. "You can tell us if you're tired, Ennoshita. We can cover your back."

"No way, I don't wanna. Open your eyes! We're in a goddamn battlefield." Seguro grunted in displeasure.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Ennoshita waved his hand and straighten his posture to assure them as the Nohebi's middle blocker huffed in comeback.

They were crouching under a large table and the rest had settled behind the supply boxes in one of the staff rooms in the building. Ennoshita didn’t exactly know why they’re hiding in this room in the first place—his mind was blank for the entire time so he just followed where his companions led them. He remembered Yahaba telling them that the Demons were possibly lurking in the indoor training center since that place was the biggest building with the most rooms, and he’s not wrong. More than half of the players who decided to go there at the beginning of the game had been disqualified.

The Karasuno student glanced at his friends to take note of their appearance. It’s harder to see in the dark, but he’s used with it from watching movies till midnight already so this was nothing to him. He remembered being with Yahaba, Shirabu, and Futakuchi when the game was announced. Yahaba was eager to win the prize while the other setter was already complaining about having to stay up till morning after an exhausting day of practice. The moment Ennoshita turned his head to meet their eyes again, Futakuchi had mysteriously disappeared from the group without a word.

And that was _scary._ Even if Futakuchi wasn’t one of the loudest people in the room, he did have the nastiest insults and remarks Ennoshita had ever heard. So when the Date Tech’s wing spiker suddenly vanished to thin air without saying goodbye in an ill-mannered way freaked the hell out of them. The three of them soon decided that he probably ran to his own teammates to build strategies. Yeah, that might be it. Still, it was rude to leave without saying anything.

The trio met with Seguro along the run. His story was not that different from Futakuchi—the Nohebi team had figured their captain's sudden disappearance was to meet his beloved girlfriend. However Daishou had never missed an opportunity to loudly declare that he's going on a date. They were a bit better prepared for the unexpected but alas, 3/4 of them had already fallen at the start and Seguro barely made it to the quieter parts of the training grounds to hide.

"Half of us are already out, can you believe that?" Akaashi chuckled dryly, trying to keep his voice low.

"Yeah, and it's nowhere near midnight! Kuroo-san is ruthless!" Yamamoto added from across the room. He was shuffling between boxes full of work paper and trying to be comfortable with the lack of space.

Fukuroudani and Nekoma was only a couple of feet away from their original group when they first ran. With plenty of jagged running and a single splash of miracle, they managed to escape from the clutches of their own respective captains, the red and white demons themselves. Despite the attempt of sticking with their teams, both got separated. The three met up with Tora and Akaashi at the back entrance of the Sports Sciences building.

“This whole area is pretty quiet…” Shirabu said to no one in particular, trying to peek through the hallways from small window cracks.

“Of course it is, I chose this place!” Yahaba puffed his chest proudly at the Shiratorizawa setter.

Shirabu snorted. “Anyone could’ve known about that.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t.” Yahaba stuck out his tongue.

Yamamoto pulled Shirabu back by the shirt before he could stand up and do God knows what to Yahaba. The two setters had been like this since long before the camp.

Apparently Oikawa and Ushijima’s rivalry rubbed off on them and Yahaba was especially irritated because his team captain never won any official match against the other boy’s. Shirabu was just pissed at the Seijoh’s setter’s mockeries and his tendencies to belittle Ushijima whenever he could.

“Don’t tease him, Yahaba. Now’s not the time.” Akaashi reminded him.

“But it’s true!” Yahaba pressed on. “I think we’ve found a pretty good spot here. All we gotta do is to stay quiet and wait for a while before switching places, if we really have to.”

“You’re not wrong. I can’t help but wonder what’s happening to the others though… I haven’t seen any of my teammates after the announcement.” Akaashi trailed his line of thought before his lips pursed.

Seguro tilted his head. “A lot of them might have been caught. We’re quite far from the indoor center where everybody went.”

“It’s alright, we’ll get more money if this keeps up!” Yamamoto apprised. “The six of us can stay together and share the money! We’ll get uhh… 100,000 divided by 6 is um, well…”

Shirabu sighed at Yamamoto’s puzzled face. “You dunce. It’s—“

“Shh. Let him finish, dude.” Seguro turned his head to Shirabu to cut him mid-sentence. He groaned in defeat.

A few minutes had gone by in silence before Yamamoto perked up again. “Around 16,000 Yen!”

“Not quite, but close.” Akaashi told him. “You did your best, Tora.”

Ennoshita took one look at them and finally started laughing, a soft and barely controlled laugh that Yahaba joined in on, too, until they were both hunched over.

It’s funny that the group consisted of some of the soon to be captains. The time and effort he’d spent to get closer to them hadn’t gone to waste. If he decided not to try at all, he’d be stuck with strangers and Ennoshita was sure he couldn’t bear the awkwardness on the air from formalities.

At times like this, he could only hope for the best.

“GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Or not.

The occupants of the room shared a look and silently reminding each other to stay hidden. Ennoshita recognized the owner of the voice straight away—Miya Atsumu’s stomps and frantic yelps could be heard from the hallways. Ennoshita was introduced to the Inarizaki setter by Kageyama two or three days ago and he seemed nice enough for his liking (he had a weak heart, please go easy on him). He hadn’t personally spoken to him, but Miya—or just Atsumu _,_ gave a cool and freaky vibe at the most part, especially if his twin brother was present.

Nevertheless, Ennoshita couldn’t help but think the setter had ulterior motives in everything he does. Maybe he’s the only one who thought it that way, but if even Atsumu who always appeared to be calm and mysterious (if his brother’s moved out of the picture) was able to scream that loud and in uncharacteristic manner, the demons were far more wicked than he’d anticipated.

Atsumu’s screams had slowly died out and Ennoshita finally could let himself breathe once again. He looked to his comrades to see how they’re holding up in the suspense.

“I kinda felt bad for him…” the Nekoma student audibly gulped, hands gripping tight to one of the boxes.

Seguro shook his head. “Nonsense. This is a world where only the strongest survive...!”

Ennoshita could only nod to that.

* * *

**[LOCATION: JISS 1F – Main Hallways]**

_This sucks this sucks this sucks this sucks this sucks this REALLY FUCKIN’ SUCKS._

Atsumu couldn’t believe that he was so, SO certain that he’d win.

The Inarizaki setter had convinced the team that at least one of them could survive till the end, even if their captain—Kita Shinsuke himself was out to slit their throats. It’s embarrassing now that he realized he’s been running around with baseless confidence.

Atsumu and Aran had ran to the Sports Sciences building across the indoor training center to break free from the commotion at the starting fields. The two ran with Riseki and plenty of Kamomedai and Date Tech students going the same direction as they were, a lot of them getting eliminated in the process. Atsumu was genuinely surprised that the first year could keep up with him and Aran, he gave Riseki less credit than the setter thought he deserved then. 

They held on inside the 3rd floor common training room and wait until the coast was clear from any demons—with other scrubs also being inside the room. Atsumu went silent to think over his plans.

He really wanted to be alone in the room with his teammates exclusively. The others were just extras and they’d definitely be on their way to weigh them down. If Aran didn’t snatch Atsumu’s jacket and dragged him away from Osamu, they could’ve come up with better ideas because once they’re together, their brain cells multiply (that’s what their mom said anyway). Not saying that Aran was bad and all, but the older student had _never_ approved any of their schemes.

Atsumu told the other two to follow him out to find somewhere to camp out, away from people who weren’t their ‘allies’. He wanted to flee from the insignificant players as soon as possible. Aran assured the setter that the room they’re currently in was good enough for now, but Atsumu insisted. The ace couldn’t argue with the blond without raising his voice to his highest octave because Atsumu was so _irritating._ Riseki looked just as lost.

After a few minutes of convincing, they got up and scurried off to find a new and much more refined space. Atsumu had explored the building with his fellow second years (albeit reluctantly) in their break time, so he knew one or two high-quality-for-hiding-standards rooms. He decided to take them to the Rowing or Canoe Test Site—telling Aran and Riseki to hide under the small boats. Kayaks were usually too heavy to pick up alone for regular people, but they _weren’t_ regular people and the boats were most likely fake only for research purposes, so they could easily lift the kayaks and stay there for as long as they wanted since the demons won’t even think anyone would do what they’re about to do.

It’s a perfect plan. But alas, he miscalculated.

Zero times zero was still zero, after all.

Their hiding spot wasn’t bad in itself but if only, IF ONLY he noticed that they’ve been followed before he closed the door. He got separated with Aran as he broke out to the opposite direction, taking 2 demons with him as Riseki got caught by that stinky Kamomedai captain. Not daring to look back to see who exactly was chasing him, he kept rushing forward till the demons get tired (he’s really confident in his stamina, you see) or tip off any obstacles he came across to the floor in an attempt to slow them down. Upon entering the building, he recalled seeing the relaxation room for some _fuckin’_ reason was filled with scattered DVDs so he avoided going inside.

He took a sharp turn to his right where he remembered the swimming pool’s laundry room was located. Atsumu opened the door and did his best to close the door without making a noise to alert them. There’s no tables, no chairs, no closets—just lined up lockers and washing machines with a bench that was too small to fit under. Wasting no more time in line, he hopped into the only available option: one of the open lockers, to secure his hiding place.

Atsumu could hear multiple footsteps coming his way. They didn’t enter the room but he held his breath anyway—just in case.

“Where did the little fox go?” one of the demons grumbled.

Atsumu realized that his chaser was most likely the Nohebi captain, Daishou. He didn’t dislike the guy, quite the opposite honestly. Some might say that his filthy tricks were shameful but the setter thought it’s pretty interesting that the Nohebi captain would go that far to win a single game. Osamu and Gin had called him insane after admitting that, but since when did he care. Sure, he’s not good enough at volleyball so he resorted to cheating, but if they won, they won. It’s too bad that Nohebi had never qualified to the nationals, he would’ve enjoyed a match with their complete lineup than what they’ve had in the camp. It sucked to be the receiving end of their dirty ploys but it was still fun to watch others suffer. He wondered if he could play fire with fire, it’d be interesting to mess with them while trying to avoid the national-class referees.

Wait, now’s not the time to think about it and Kita would definitely kill him if he did do that. Maybe not _kill,_ but if the captain gave him a disappointed look you’re good as dead anyway.

“It’s your fault, asshole!” another voice wailed. “If you didn’t grab me by the hair we could’ve caught him!”

“Please, don’t blame anyone for your incompetence. It’s tearing down your charisma—not like you have any.” Daishou retorted.

Atsumu couldn’t see him, but the unknown demon was certainly seething in anger. “We both know you fucking tripped me on purpose so you’d get more points, and you didn’t even succeed in the end!”

“Shut up, shitty hair! It was only payback for what you did!”

“You’re one to talk, damn snake! Your hair is hideous!”

“What the FUCK did you say?!”

They kept screaming at each other before a third voice interrupted their quarrel. Ah, he knew this one all too well.

“Keep it down, will ya? Don’t want to invite attention to yerselves…” Kita told them, voice gentle but fierce as always. “And Kuroo-kun, I saw ya throw that banana peel—no, I don’t want to know where ya pulled it out—in front of Daishou-kun before he could trip ya. Ya did this to yerself.” The third demon, Kuroo, snarled as Daishou burst out laughing. Kita waited for them to finish before continuing.

“I caught 6 more, by the way. Three of them are my teammates, two of them are from Itachiyama and the other was yers, I think.” The Inarizaki captain pointed at Daishou.

Daishou almost choked. “You’re kidding! So you got 1200 Yen in one go?” Kita nodded.

“What the hell? Take it easy man, I want money too! Leave some rascals for us.” Kuroo whined. Kita didn't bother acknowledging it.

 _Damn him. Kita-san is nice and all, but damn him to hell._ The setter heaved a sigh of relief when he couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore. He waited a bit before deciding whether or not to go outside—he’s not going to spend the entire night camping inside a locker, no, thank you. Once he’s sure there’s no one nearby, his lifted his arms to the locker handle to push it open.

The door didn’t budge. Figured that he probably didn’t push it hard enough so he tried again, with both of his arms this time. Struck it once. Twice. More than it usually needed to unlock the damn thing.

But the locker stood still, unmoving.

Atsumu paused for a couple of seconds to process what had happened to him.

_“Oh fuck.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GENERAL MAP](https://www.joc.or.jp/english/ntc/facility.html)
> 
> \- I LOVE THE NEXT CAPTAIN SQUAD!!!!  
> \- We don't know if it's Hoshiumi or Hirugami (or even Hakuba) who's going to be the next captain of Kamomedai, so I didn't specify a thing lmao but I'm pretty sure it's going to be Hoshiumi...  
> \- for Nohebi, Seguro is the only second year who's not a libero, so there's that!  
> \- Fun fact; Ennoshita and co, Seijoh third years, and Atsumu are ALL in the same building. Will they ever cross paths? Who knows!
> 
> Next one: Konoha's and Suga with Tanaka and Nishinoya's POVs!
> 
> If there's a certain character's POV you'd like to see, please let me know!


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